After a hectic 2.5 days of orienting ourselves to the newness of our temporary home, it is time to get down to the purpose of our visit - our month-long projects with local organizations. Monday, September 9 morning, we are all in spiffy business garb. The inaugural event is at the city Mayor's office, and it is a biggie. While waiting at the foyer of the Mayor's conference room, the teams make initial contact with their clients. We are heralded in to a nice conference room and take our assigned seats. Around the main table, we have the who's who of Uberlandia - the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, the Secretary for Tourism, heads of each of the NGOs, IBM Corporate Citizenship and Community Relations executives from Sao Paulo. The mayor welcomes us all warmly, and each of the NGOs talk about their mission. Bruno does a good job stepping into translate. A few from our team are interviewed by the local TV news station. We are on the local news that evening !
After the event, the teams disperse with their respective clients. It is easy for my team, as we just have to go up a flight of spiral stairs to the Municipal Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
We have our first in a series of meetings, with Marise, the Director of Tourism, and Pedro, the Project Manager. Our two morning-shift interns from the International Relations class at the Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU) join us. Marise and Pedro explain the background and their expectations from the project. They need a system to collect and store data on tourism - the origins of the visitors to Uberlandia, what they did while they were here, where they stayed etc. They currently have very little info - and are seeking to remedy that situation, so that future investment decisions that affect tourism can be based on solid data. They are also looking for supply-side info - the catalog of hotels, restaurants, bars etc.
Pedro is very competent - he's already arranged a comprehensive agenda of meetings and visits for the week. Monday afternoon, we visit the IT support group within the Municipality. The Tourism Department's IT support person, Lazaro, is self-taught, and has done a great job collecting publicly available info and putting together a neat Excel / Access application to query the data. The formal IT support organization for the municipality (PRODAUB) is quite professional. We visit their data center, and several eyes light up on spotting racks of IBM gear.
After work, a few of us head out to a local gym that offers CrossFit classes. The instructor is intimidating - tattoos, heavily muscled, no-nonsense attitude. He puts us through a circuit of a dozen workouts, including sledgehammering a truck tire, creating waves with heavy ropes and the trickiest of all, a combination push-up and crunch on a contraption that resembles the "stirrups" used in labor rooms. In just 30 minutes, I am reduced to quivering jelly. Rodrigo promises that the soreness to surely follow the next day will be equally memorable. We limp off to dinner at a nearby health food place, and recover with crepes and acai smoothies.
Tuesday, we attend the kickoff of the "Marathon of Tourism" at the Mayor's conference room. Paulo, the Secretary and Marise, the Director launch the event, which is a 2-week gala covering culture, gastronomy, sports and other activities.
A series of meetings follow with people in the know and with a say on tourism in the city. We meet Paulo and Alexandre, professors of Geography and Music from UFU. Then on to a tour with Gustavo, the Secretary of Communications a floor below.
We then get the lowdown on the potential for agro-tourism from Juliano, who has the dream job of visiting local farms and documenting their attractions.
Many farms ("fazenda" in Portuguese) here have lakes, rivers and waterfalls and we are told of the potential to develop them as weekend destinations. Here are a few examples.
We then meet Gustavo, the President of the Uberlandia Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Bureau provides services to organizations looking to host events and conferences in the city. Business and event tourism is the city's current mainstay and Gustavo speaks on behalf of the hotels, restaurants, caterers and other service providers in the city.
Tuesday afternoon, Tatiana takes us on a tour of the sports facilities in Uberlandia. She explains that the city is trying to attract 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics teams to use the city as a training base. Unfortunately, the city was not selected to host any World Cup football games, but they are pitching their case as a training base to various teams, and the Irish have already visited to scope out the facilities.
Tatiana's arranged for us to check out the major sports facilities that they are using to attract the teams. SESI Gravatas, a training facility for local and national athletes, swimmers, court sports with dedicated coaches and facilities for paraplegics, is of international standard. The Sabiazinho facilities adjoin Parque do Sabia, and include an indoor basketball facility, a football stadium and an under-construction aquatics center. Then on to Praia Clube, which is privately owned, and is the largest country club in South America, I'm told. The club is expansive, and seems to be well used, going by the number of joggers, swimmers and walkers.
The largest country club in South America
A river runs through it ! Praia Clube, Uberlandia
After work, we have an all-hands meeting with Bruno and Vanessa to report back on our first couple of days of work, and raise any issues needing intervention. Everyone seems well on the way by end of Day 2, and the teams report just a few minor hitches. Vanessa suggests dinner at a neighborhood place, and we share a nice bacalhau mexido - cod with rice and assorted veggies.
Day 3 is again filled with meetings. We meet the leadership of ACIUB, which is a local chamber of commerce. We also meet the Tourism Secretary of the nearby town of Araguari, who chairs an organization called the Tourism Circuit of the Minas Triangle. They are promoting camping, fishing and other activities in the larger region called the Triangulo Mineiro (Minas Traingle).
In the afternoon, we visit the Center Convention, a short walk from our office. The Center Convention is part of a multi-use complex that includes the mall we visited many times for lunch (Center Shopping) and a hotel (Plaza Shopping Hotel). There are two shopping malls at the opposite ends of town, and they are big attractions for people from nearby cities. We meet Eli, the head of the Convention Center and he explains the drivers for event tourism and the facilities they offer. We are then taken on a tour of the convention center, where the InterLeite milk industry fair is in full swing. Turns out that the local family that owns the business also owns the churrascaria Chima in Washington, DC !
We then go to the top of the under-construction Uberlandia Business Tower, which, when completed next year, will be the tallest building in the city. You can see clear to the next city, Araguari, from here. The roop-top offers an amazing panoramic view of the city, and the gentle breeze and the setting sun offer the prefect backdrop. Only wish I had a caipirinha, an arm chair and a good book. Omar Khayyam must've known how I felt when he wrote his famous ruba'i.
That evening, we head out for Samba lessons courtesy of Larissa, the subject of a separate post. After the lesson, we head for caipirinhas and finger foods to the nearby town square. As you can no doubt see, caipirinhas feature prominently in our diet here.
Thursday morning, Day 4, we are picked up at the hotel and taken straight to a municipal school, Escola Municipal Otavio Batista. We meet the Principal who gives us a tour, and then we are taken to a classroom where two groups of seventh graders come by to meet us. The event is the launch of Project EducaTur, coordinated by Cecilia, that aims to teach school children about the benefits of tourism and then give them small tourism-related projects to work on.
The school kids were around the same age as my daughter Mahi, and they were a curious about our diverse team. We each introduced ourselves in our mother tongues - Marc in German, May in Mandarin, Jill in Irish and me in Malayalam. We answered their perceptive questions about what we liked about Brazil and what we have learned from visiting other places around the globe. Such a pleasure to be able to interact with them.
We then visit with Pedro, the President of FIEMG, an association of various industry groups. Pedro explained that FIEMG runs many programs to develop businesses, provide vocational training, sponsor sports and tourism events and many other activities besides. He gives us his frank opinion on the challenges to developing tourism in the city.
Then on to a business networking lunch sponsored by ACIUB. The venue is the Cachaceria do Dede at the Uberlandia Shopping Mall on the other end of town. The place has a huge selection of cachacas and jams, including caipirinha and chilly flavored jam, so I make a mental note to come back to pick up goodies to take back with me. At the lunch, I realize that the business circle in the city is quite intimate - we bump to several people we had met in the past 3 days. We have lunch with Tomaides, a 9-time marathoner who's next one will be the Great Wall Marathon in China.
We decide to work from the hotel that afternoon, and sort out many things, including the scope of our work, focus areas and responsibilities. Then farewell dinner for Vanessa at the Mercado Municipal (Municipal Market). Vanessa's heading back home to Recife, and we don't know if she'll be back. What a terrific job she did of selecting the NGOs, defining the projects and getting us set up. I'll miss her.
Friday, Day 5, starts with great excitement. The President of Brazil, Dilma Rouseff, is visiting Uberlandia for the first time, for the graduation ceremony of the first batch of students from a vocational training program called PRONATEC, and we are invited to the event. We are super-thrilled at the prospect. The details here.
Lunch at the mall followed by a quick trip to the Havaianas store to pick up a pair of the famed Brazilian flip-flop brand. In the afternoon, we tour TV Integracao, a leading local TV station. Paulo, the Head of Journalism, briefs us on the history of TV in Uberlandia, and takes us through their archives. We visit the studio where many of the daily local news, sports and lifestyle shows are shot. Then a visit to the newsroom and Q&A with him, accompanied by delicious, fresh-baked Pao de Queijo.
Thus ended Week 1. So many highlights from just the first week - Presidenta Dilma, the program kick-off with the Mayor, meeting the school children. What a week. And an action-packed weekend to follow.
#ibmcsc brazil
The team taking its place at the inaugural event
Mauro and Alcely from IBM at the kickoff event
Photo coverage of the TV coverage
The Mayor, Hon. Gilmar Machado, speaking at the event
Looking fine, y'all
After the event, the teams disperse with their respective clients. It is easy for my team, as we just have to go up a flight of spiral stairs to the Municipal Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
The office of the Secretary of Economic Development and Tourism
That's how you say Economic Development and Tourism in Portuguese
The Mayor's office - we work on the third floor
We have our first in a series of meetings, with Marise, the Director of Tourism, and Pedro, the Project Manager. Our two morning-shift interns from the International Relations class at the Federal University of Uberlandia (UFU) join us. Marise and Pedro explain the background and their expectations from the project. They need a system to collect and store data on tourism - the origins of the visitors to Uberlandia, what they did while they were here, where they stayed etc. They currently have very little info - and are seeking to remedy that situation, so that future investment decisions that affect tourism can be based on solid data. They are also looking for supply-side info - the catalog of hotels, restaurants, bars etc.
Pedro is very competent - he's already arranged a comprehensive agenda of meetings and visits for the week. Monday afternoon, we visit the IT support group within the Municipality. The Tourism Department's IT support person, Lazaro, is self-taught, and has done a great job collecting publicly available info and putting together a neat Excel / Access application to query the data. The formal IT support organization for the municipality (PRODAUB) is quite professional. We visit their data center, and several eyes light up on spotting racks of IBM gear.
After work, a few of us head out to a local gym that offers CrossFit classes. The instructor is intimidating - tattoos, heavily muscled, no-nonsense attitude. He puts us through a circuit of a dozen workouts, including sledgehammering a truck tire, creating waves with heavy ropes and the trickiest of all, a combination push-up and crunch on a contraption that resembles the "stirrups" used in labor rooms. In just 30 minutes, I am reduced to quivering jelly. Rodrigo promises that the soreness to surely follow the next day will be equally memorable. We limp off to dinner at a nearby health food place, and recover with crepes and acai smoothies.
Tuesday, we attend the kickoff of the "Marathon of Tourism" at the Mayor's conference room. Paulo, the Secretary and Marise, the Director launch the event, which is a 2-week gala covering culture, gastronomy, sports and other activities.
The poster for the Marathon of Tourism - designed by the Municipality staff
The Mayor launches the Marathon of Tourism
A series of meetings follow with people in the know and with a say on tourism in the city. We meet Paulo and Alexandre, professors of Geography and Music from UFU. Then on to a tour with Gustavo, the Secretary of Communications a floor below.
The UFU professors sharing their opinions about tourism development in the city
At the Department of Communications. They have a group of journalists and web news specialists
We then get the lowdown on the potential for agro-tourism from Juliano, who has the dream job of visiting local farms and documenting their attractions.
Juliano, with Mayla translating for us
Many farms ("fazenda" in Portuguese) here have lakes, rivers and waterfalls and we are told of the potential to develop them as weekend destinations. Here are a few examples.
We then meet Gustavo, the President of the Uberlandia Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Bureau provides services to organizations looking to host events and conferences in the city. Business and event tourism is the city's current mainstay and Gustavo speaks on behalf of the hotels, restaurants, caterers and other service providers in the city.
Gustavo (center, seated) gives us his perspective on business and event tourism
Tuesday afternoon, Tatiana takes us on a tour of the sports facilities in Uberlandia. She explains that the city is trying to attract 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics teams to use the city as a training base. Unfortunately, the city was not selected to host any World Cup football games, but they are pitching their case as a training base to various teams, and the Irish have already visited to scope out the facilities.
Tatiana's arranged for us to check out the major sports facilities that they are using to attract the teams. SESI Gravatas, a training facility for local and national athletes, swimmers, court sports with dedicated coaches and facilities for paraplegics, is of international standard. The Sabiazinho facilities adjoin Parque do Sabia, and include an indoor basketball facility, a football stadium and an under-construction aquatics center. Then on to Praia Clube, which is privately owned, and is the largest country club in South America, I'm told. The club is expansive, and seems to be well used, going by the number of joggers, swimmers and walkers.
The largest country club in South America
A river runs through it ! Praia Clube, Uberlandia
Tatiana, our host for the afternoon sports facility tour, in yellow jeans
After work, we have an all-hands meeting with Bruno and Vanessa to report back on our first couple of days of work, and raise any issues needing intervention. Everyone seems well on the way by end of Day 2, and the teams report just a few minor hitches. Vanessa suggests dinner at a neighborhood place, and we share a nice bacalhau mexido - cod with rice and assorted veggies.
Day 3 is again filled with meetings. We meet the leadership of ACIUB, which is a local chamber of commerce. We also meet the Tourism Secretary of the nearby town of Araguari, who chairs an organization called the Tourism Circuit of the Minas Triangle. They are promoting camping, fishing and other activities in the larger region called the Triangulo Mineiro (Minas Traingle).
Meeting Jose Ricardo at ACIUB, a leading organization representing Uberlandia's commerce & industry
The team with Clesio, the head of the Tourism Circuit of the Minas Triangle. Arrow says Mayla's it !
In the afternoon, we visit the Center Convention, a short walk from our office. The Center Convention is part of a multi-use complex that includes the mall we visited many times for lunch (Center Shopping) and a hotel (Plaza Shopping Hotel). There are two shopping malls at the opposite ends of town, and they are big attractions for people from nearby cities. We meet Eli, the head of the Convention Center and he explains the drivers for event tourism and the facilities they offer. We are then taken on a tour of the convention center, where the InterLeite milk industry fair is in full swing. Turns out that the local family that owns the business also owns the churrascaria Chima in Washington, DC !
We then go to the top of the under-construction Uberlandia Business Tower, which, when completed next year, will be the tallest building in the city. You can see clear to the next city, Araguari, from here. The roop-top offers an amazing panoramic view of the city, and the gentle breeze and the setting sun offer the prefect backdrop. Only wish I had a caipirinha, an arm chair and a good book. Omar Khayyam must've known how I felt when he wrote his famous ruba'i.
Meeting Eli at the Center Convention to learn about event tourism in Uberlandia
The speaker at InterLeite making a point about FDR to the Brazilian milk industry people - I didn't get what it was, though
On top of Uberlandia - at the roof of the under-construction 30-story business tower, which will be the tallest building in the city
That evening, we head out for Samba lessons courtesy of Larissa, the subject of a separate post. After the lesson, we head for caipirinhas and finger foods to the nearby town square. As you can no doubt see, caipirinhas feature prominently in our diet here.
Thursday morning, Day 4, we are picked up at the hotel and taken straight to a municipal school, Escola Municipal Otavio Batista. We meet the Principal who gives us a tour, and then we are taken to a classroom where two groups of seventh graders come by to meet us. The event is the launch of Project EducaTur, coordinated by Cecilia, that aims to teach school children about the benefits of tourism and then give them small tourism-related projects to work on.
Luciano and Cecilia explaining Project EducaTur and handing out the specially commissioned bags and teaching material
The school kids were around the same age as my daughter Mahi, and they were a curious about our diverse team. We each introduced ourselves in our mother tongues - Marc in German, May in Mandarin, Jill in Irish and me in Malayalam. We answered their perceptive questions about what we liked about Brazil and what we have learned from visiting other places around the globe. Such a pleasure to be able to interact with them.
The kids giggling at my speech in Malayalam
Our team with the student representatives (kneeling) for the school tourism project
We then visit with Pedro, the President of FIEMG, an association of various industry groups. Pedro explained that FIEMG runs many programs to develop businesses, provide vocational training, sponsor sports and tourism events and many other activities besides. He gives us his frank opinion on the challenges to developing tourism in the city.
Pedro of FIEMG shares his views.
Then on to a business networking lunch sponsored by ACIUB. The venue is the Cachaceria do Dede at the Uberlandia Shopping Mall on the other end of town. The place has a huge selection of cachacas and jams, including caipirinha and chilly flavored jam, so I make a mental note to come back to pick up goodies to take back with me. At the lunch, I realize that the business circle in the city is quite intimate - we bump to several people we had met in the past 3 days. We have lunch with Tomaides, a 9-time marathoner who's next one will be the Great Wall Marathon in China.
Tomaides, the 9-time marathoner. Her toughest marathon - Santiago, Chile. Easiest - Berlin, Germany
Friday, Day 5, starts with great excitement. The President of Brazil, Dilma Rouseff, is visiting Uberlandia for the first time, for the graduation ceremony of the first batch of students from a vocational training program called PRONATEC, and we are invited to the event. We are super-thrilled at the prospect. The details here.
At Sabiazinho, attending the event featuring Presidenta Dilma
Lunch at the mall followed by a quick trip to the Havaianas store to pick up a pair of the famed Brazilian flip-flop brand. In the afternoon, we tour TV Integracao, a leading local TV station. Paulo, the Head of Journalism, briefs us on the history of TV in Uberlandia, and takes us through their archives. We visit the studio where many of the daily local news, sports and lifestyle shows are shot. Then a visit to the newsroom and Q&A with him, accompanied by delicious, fresh-baked Pao de Queijo.
Paulo and in the background, Clueless
At the TV Itegracao studio. The backdrop is the one used for their nightly newscast
Thus ended Week 1. So many highlights from just the first week - Presidenta Dilma, the program kick-off with the Mayor, meeting the school children. What a week. And an action-packed weekend to follow.
#ibmcsc brazil
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