This is Alistair Gornall, supremo of Consolidated Communications,
working hard on a recent business trip to Havana.
Gornall was in Havana to speak at a conference held by client CDC
(formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation) and the thoughtful
organisers arranged salsa dancing lessons for key speakers to help them
relax.
Judging by the grin on Gornall’s face I’d say that he managed to unwind
or perhaps he was just impressed with the attentions of his salsa
teacher.
’I had to dance very close to her,’ he confides.
Apparently the lessons were arranged to help conference delegates ’turn
off’. Gornall seems anything but. However, he tried to convince me that
despite the attentions of a Cuban beauty the dance lessons were hell:
’I’m delighted not to be dancing salsa every day. It’s a hard dance to
do,’ he says. It seems he prefers addressing Caribbean and Latin
Americans on marketing strategy.
Oddly enough Gornall rarely delegates his CDC commitments to other
senior Consolidated staff. Last year the organisation held its
conference near the Victoria Falls in Zambia and he just had to attend
that event too.
What a nightmare clients can be.
