Dubai Air Show 2009 Tweetup

True to Tweeples or Twitteratis (take your pick) while tweeting on #dxb09 it was spontaneously agreed to have a Tweetup on Monday at 2:30 pm under the Qatar Airways B777. All sponsored by Flightglobal.

Well, we had a Tweetup, well maybe a mini or some would say micro. At the time under the shadow of the QR B777 and during the Flying Displays, we all connected the Flightglobal Team , those who were not tied up blogging.

The roll call included @stefanthepilot @inflightcuisine @sumudu @tangosix @obsalah @runwaygirl @mtargettuk @spetrovic and a few more. It was great to meet the team behind Flightglobal easily the most extensively visited aviation news website.

The highlight was the introduction of @stefanthepilot to all of us, quite a character. Well @stephanthepilot is a pilot action figure (. Honestly, I was surprised, never thought of an action figure, chalk one for the Flightglobal team.

We had a few pics and red T shirts (click here), we chatted, of course over the roar of fighters using their after burners (something only persons in aviation will do, normal people will go indoors).

It was great fun and I enjoyed it, the highlight of the day

Dubai Air Show, the Twitter Experience

This is the first day of the Dubai Air Show and guess what, I was not there. However, I had a different Air Show experience, a social media coverage of the Air Show #dxb09. Sure, it is not the same as being there experiencing the buzz and excitement, but nevertheless this is my first experience of whether social media works in a venue that I am familiar with (my 7th air show).

Keeping an open mind, I followed the events as they unfolded and yes it was still exciting. Best thing is Breaking News, I actually got to hear about events, equipment orders and aircraft developments as they were actually being announced. Even the flying displays were reported by @flightglobal.

Credit has to go to @flightblogger and @RunwayGirl among many others for bringing about this experience.

It certainly was interesting, tomorrow will get to meet all those tweeples responsible for keeping us in the know

Dubai Air Show

Sunday the 15th of November the Dubai Air Show 2009 will officially start. It promises to be the highlight of an otherwise very grim year for aviation for many reasons;

1. The number of exhibitors have increased over those of 2007.

2. It is held in an area that has bucked the trend and is actually shows growth.

3. As always people are intrigued to hear what Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have to

order.

4. The first show held when Social Media is so popular and the ability to catch up through

Twitter and Facebook, great fun.

For first timers Dubai Air Show is an awesome event, with all these aircraft on static display or the 2 hours of flying displays. It fills me with awe every time I watch, even though some o them are the same routines from previous shows. The exhibition halls that house all these big, famous and not so big and famous that make up aviation, all under one roof, so accessible and so friendly and easy to talk to is an inspiration.

For me personally, it is a time of catching up with friends, yes old friends. The ones I thought I lost track of, somehow we all surface again at air shows. Time to check on families and careers; where they were and where are they heading.

It is a time of feeling proud of being part of an industry that refuses to be beaten or put down by recession, terror or politics. An industry that innovates its way out of trouble and never gives up.

In a region where aviation is at the leading edge of technology and all its innovation and creativity.

In a region that showed the world that "yes we can" through 9/11 and all its persisting conflicts, SARS, Avian Flu, H1N1 and recession.

In the course of the coming week I will blog and share events and feelings, I am so looking forward to it.

Why are they hated?

About three years back Zeina (my eldest daughter) called me from MSU and asked me "why are Human Resources (HR) professionals hated?" Huh, well she was taking this course and she had to write a couple of paragraphs. I gave her a few ideas and some thoughts at the time.

Well, three years later a change of jobs and a deep recession, my views have not changed much, that only emphasized in my mind that it takes a special kind of talent to be a great HR professional.

Not all HR are hated, most are pretty good. I think it all depends on how the Senior Management views employees. If they are regarded as valuable assets that have to be nurtured and developed, then invariably HR is viewed more favourably. However if the employees are viewed as people who need to be controlled and kept in their place, then HR could shine or be at its worst.

Having said that their are two categories of HR, those who consider themselves the advocates and protectors of the employees rights within the organisation and those who are the hatchet men of the big boss.

It takes a person of great moral strength to stand up to top management bullying and demand just solutions. Most people will go with the flow and tell you, we are just an employee.

But then you get the HR manager who is a real devious politician, that lies to employees with a straight face and gives all the text book answers, the real slimy and sleazy character. The boss's real hit man, the one that embodies hypocrisy and a real talent for lying.

The short answer, they are hated because they are perceived as the people who implement management policies employees do not like.

VIOLINS

I was never a great musician, as a matter of fact I am awful. Mom insisted that I take music lessons. So I joined the Jordan Music Conservatory. I actually learnt to read notes but could never convert them into tunes in my head. Needless to say, I had an attempt at the Clarinet for a year and then the Accordion the next year. After which mom just gave up, what a relief.

However, one instrument I particularly hated, was the Violin. Oh that sad, moaning and whining sound, used to to drive me insane and straight to sleep.

Until one day I heard Vanessa Mae and her awesome Violin playing The Devil's Trill and the Matrix Reloaded Mix. The Violin became my favorite instrument and it opened up a whole new world of musical celebration ranging from The Hip Hop Violinist and Michael Flately Dueling Violins and many many others.

It is no more the whining and moaning sound, it is the sound of celebrating life.