From Bangalore to Belgium
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 13:16 Just arrived at St Pancras International en route to Antwerp via Brussels.
Some of you may recall that in 2010 I went to Bangalore in India for the bi-annual Global Tobacco Networking Forum (GTNF).
Fellow speakers/panellists included Chris Snowdon, Mark Littlewood, Patrick Basham and Angela Harbutt and the whole thing was enormous fun.
The location helped, of course. In particular I shall never forget arriving at our hotel - at six o'clock in the morning - where we were welcomed like royalty and showered with rose petals. You don't get that at the Premier Inn.
Staying at the same hotel was the Australian cricket team and after the conference I spent an unforgettable afternoon with Mick Hume (founding editor of Spiked) watching the Test match between India and Australia.
For better or worse, GTNF 2012 is a rather different affair. No dodgy visas, no ten-hour flight to the sub-continent, no seven-star hotel, no heart-stopping rickshaws ...
Instead we're off to Belgium and for reasons best known to the organisers we are staying in a hotel by night but during the day we will transfer - by bus - to a boat where we will be held, like hostages, until it is time to return for dinner.
Bangalore it ain't but more than that I can't say. Not yet anyway. Watch this space.
Reader Comments (2)
Not exactly on line with this thread I know Simon, but every time I log onto your site I get pop-ups come sliding up the screen - even though I have pop-ups blocked. This was today's one:
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Get used to it, that's what living in Politically Correct EU Nanny State Big Brother and being European friends means!
Make sure you dont smoke.