Week 2, Monday, Sep 16, we start the day with a meeting with the Marise and Pedro to review the revised scope of work. We added a section on helping them with an assessment of tourism potential and clarified what the tourism information system would encompass. Agreement all around !
#ibmcsc brazil
We start looking up comparable cities in Brazil that would serve as case studies. Pedro supplies us with information from Sao Paulo - very nice reports on all sorts of tourism-related activity. We look up Curitiba, Florianopolis, Petropolis, Belo Horizonte, Goiania and a bunch of other cities to assess their tourism information management systems and what data they collect on tourism.
We meet the Secretary of Culture, and he briefs us on the resources his team manages, including theaters, art galleries, libraries and performance venues.
The Secretary of Culture, Gilberto, talks to us on the cultural assets of Uberlandia
We have an all-hands meeting in the evening with Bruno and Larissa. Many of us distribute candy and goodies - I now have an overflowing bag filled with gifts, including a large Brazilian flag (thanks, Pedro) and I Heart NYC keychains (courtesy of Leslie). The teams share their progress and frustrations. All in all, everyone seems to be on track. After-work plans for the week and the weekend are discussed. A trip to a resort in nearby Caldas Novas, featuring a hot spring, is under discussion with Sylvie in the lead.
Tuesday, we start the day with the inauguration of MOSTRACON, a construction industry fair at Center Convention. The Mayor and the Secretary of Tourism are in attendance, as are a number of industry leaders.
At the Tourism Department booth at MOSTRACON industry fair
Cairo & Cristiane gamely posing with a MOSTRACON company mascot (stethoscope around his neck - why ?)
This house mascot guy was walking around, and I made poor Cairo & Cristiane pose for a photo with him (her?) as well
With a dapper Paulo and laughing Marise at MOSTRACON
The Mayor inaugurating MOSTRACON
In the afternoon, we notice storm clouds moving in. Jill prays fervently for rain - she is missing the daily Irish showers, and soon enough, we get a nice breeze and rain. The storm knocks off a large nameboard from a nearby hotel and brings it tumbling down on the road - fortunately, no one is hurt and nothing is damaged. After work, I go for a run and do a late solo dinner, and am joined by Paul just as I am pondering how to dispose of the other half of my huge sandwich. He downs the half sandwich and we have a nice chat over a cerveza.
Wednesday, we lose one of our translators. The team from ONG CASA is down to no translators, and Bruno asks us to help out by sending Gustavo to help them out. After a bit of haggling, we come up with an acceptable solution. We meet the PRODAUB IT team to understand how any system that we propose would be supported. We also speak with Danilo from IBM - thanks to Shannon and Carlos for the contact - to know more about survey research tools in the market.
Ruser and Cristiano from PRODAUB answering out question about their database systems
We then meet Luisa from SEBRAE, the equivalent of the US Small Business Administration. I'd already bumped into her twice before, and this time she explains the programs that SEBRAE offer to entrepreneurs to create business and financial plans and raise funds. She turns out to be a foodie, and tells me that she cooks biriyani. I need to wangle an invitation to a meal !
Luisa from SEBRAE helps entrepreneurs and also cooks biriyani !
We have the cheapest lunch to date - R$ 4.50 for fresh sugarcane juice and pastels (a sort of giant samosa with various fillings) - at a farmer's market. Jill & May work to complete a questionnaire to collect information from the attendees at the MOSTRACON event.
After work, it is time for Samba lessons. I find the pace too fast, and struggle to keep up with the rest of the group. After the lesson, we head out for a drink at Sibipiruna, and then a nightcap at Thalia, where Sylvie and I have a nice long chat.
Thursday, we start with a meeting with Nelson, an event organizer from Belo Horizonte. He gives us good information on what the city has and what it lacks in terms of attracting events. As one of our project success measures is the increase in the number of events held here, I find his thoughts very interesting. He also gives us the names of the Brazilian industry associations for trade fair promoters and event organizers.
Nelson explains what Uberlandia has going for it and what the city needs to do to attract more events
We then have a conference call with Beatriz and Fabio, from Sao Paulo Tourism. They give us tons of information on what Sao Paulo does to collect tourism data, and we frantically note it all down. Ciro and I then head out to UFU to meet a couple of Geography professors whom I'd heard about through the adventure tourism company, Trilhas Interpretivas, who'd arranged our waterfall abseiling trip the previous weekend. Someone at the Geography department had apparently cataloged over 300 waterfalls in the area, and I am trying to see if I could get that info. I meet four faculty members from there, and they are incredibly generous with their time and knowledge. I am presented a couple of reference books with details of rivers and waterfalls in the area.
The UFU Geography professors - (Beatriz & Silvio in the middle) very knowledgeable and eager to share
Ciro gives me a quick tour of the campus. Nice buildings, and obvious evidence of a recent inflow of federal funds in the number of under-construction facilities.
We then head out to a round table that Pedro, the president of FIEMG, had arranged with the heads of six industry associations. They share their views on the economic opportunities from tourism, what must be done to create tourism infrastructure and how to promote tourism in Uberlandia. I am gladdened by the level of public-private cooperation here - they seem to work hand in hand in organizing events and promoting the city. I go out to a solo dinner and then meet up for a drink to celebrate the Chinese mid-autumn festival with a glorious full moon on a cloudless night.
At the FIEMG round table with heads of different industry associations of the "High Paranaiba" region
Friday, our plans to talk with city tourism officials from other cities are dashed by an unexpected discovery - it is a holiday in Southern Brazil (Farroupilhas, to commemorate a long-ago battle). We decide to work on our final deliverable, and after a healthy debate, reach agreement on several things and leave some items to be slept on.
The weekend is going to be quite a change from the past two, as most of the group are heading out to Caldas Novas, a nearby hot spring and I'm staying behind. To catch up on sleep, blogging, email, work, family, solitude. As a former introvert who has willed himself to become social, I find that I do best when I intersperse intense socialization with breaks to be by myself - and the weekend promises to be restorative.
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