The week will forever go down in history as ‘the week I shook hands with the President’… but we’ll get to that.
Being whisked through the incredibly long registration line via the ‘media’ channel is bound to be a good start to any event, and yes, it just got better. Decked out in their fineries, influential members of Jewish communities and organizations from around the world congregated to hear and discuss President Peres’s visions for ‘Tomorrow’; with such a distinguished speaker list, it surely wasn’t going to disappoint.
Firstly, let’s remember that our beloved President is almost 90 years old; thinking of my grandfather who is approximately the same age, I was flabbergasted. At every potential moment ‘Shimoan’ (as he was affectionately referred to by fellow panelists) presented himself with the Presidential valor and refinement one surely expects. His ability as an orator is always astonishing, and witnessing the emotion and affection between him and Henry Kissinger upon presenting Dr Kissinger with the Presidential Award of Distinction was a fittingly striking (some would even say “Historic”) start to proceedings.
Have to be honest, I really only go to these things for the schmooze outside the sessions, and there was plenty!! Shall we say, a prolonged ‘kiddish’ in shul (including wine and cake at one point), but how can a New Media enthusiast skip on a panel entitled ‘What’s New in New Media’? especially when moderated by Mr ‘Godfather of Israeli Hi-tech’ himself Yossi Vardi. I think anyone in that room would agree that they would want to be introduced to a stage by him – awakening the audience after the midday lull by making us cheer louder for each panelist as they entered (was really pretty funny).
Needless to say, any panel with John Chambers (Cisco), Julius Genachowski (FCC), Maurice Levy (Publicis) and Stephane Richard (France Telecom Group), moderated by Vardi is going to be forward thinking and insightful (and with Vardi at the helm, entertaining), but again, it was President Peres taking the stage that blew them all out of the water (for me anyway). Never before have I met another octogenarian with as much of an understanding and perception of the modern digital age as Mr Peres. “Our children have found a universal language – our children are talking digitally”.
Clearly the President has established a forward thinking marketing team with a group of social media devotees, so his already active Facebook page stepped up a notch. Just days before the conference a ‘one on one with the president’ app was introduced, enabling otherwise jagged lines to ones country’s President, to be straightened. (read more about it here)
So by the end of the first full day my two favorites of the conference so far HAD to be Vardi and Peres; luckily, on the last day, the large party of bloggers were invited to an intimate gathering with both of them. Vardi, or Sabba Yossi as we clearly wanted to refer to him, entertained his usual casual stance, answering questions thoughtfully and humorously (as one would expect). To the question of ‘what does the future hold?’ Vardi simply replied “I am not a prophet” (I think he might have heard that question before) – he did add however (as well as was implied by Chambers in the Media Panel) that devices are just on the increase. Whilst businesses were moving “online” many years ago, everything will be device or location based soon enough…. And don’t forget about video!
Having a front and center seat in this intimate session with the President proved priceless. It is not often when one can get so ‘up close and personal’ with ones country’s President and after being so inspiring for the past three days, it was certainly an emotional experience. President Peres answered bloggers questions pragmatically, diplomatically and without a single note; his vast experience not just as President but as various Ministers on the cabinet clearly contributed to his already expansive knowledge.
Being a lesser political entity it was my aim to make the President laugh or smile (that’s just the way I am) so grabbing the last question in the session I wanted to know what all women want to know (no, nothing vulgar thank you) – what does one get the man who has everything? What was on the President’s wish-list for his next Birthday present? Yes, you guessed it, President Peres certainly came out with THE most presidential answer one could possibly give!! “For everyone to have Happy Birthdays”.
And then we were all invited up for a group photo:
But I of course, prefer this one…. (Especially as it was actually sent from President Peres’s Social media team).
Other highlights included Dr Ruth Westheimer talking ‘The Future of Sex’ reminding all couples to keep it fresh, with a ‘homework’ exercise to try something new (some seriously blushing religious faces in the audience that’s for sure!) I think she also managed to put everyone off eating Onion rings for a while (Trust me, you don’t want to know!).
All in all, apart from words of inspiration here and there, as initially thought, the most fun was the hanging out. Not to completely belittle this part of the event, many new connections were created during these three days and solidifying of relationships. Whatever tomorrow may hold for any of us, it’s always nice to look at it through more than two eyes. So the biggest thing that I take away from the event is widening and tightening the network ……. oh and shaking hands with the President isn’t bad either!