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I'm in Dubai
for the next 10 days or so and thought I would do a bit of blogging about the trip. First, lets set the record straight. When I say I'm headed for Dubai I invariably get two responses. The first is: Take me with you. The second is: Travel Safe, as if I'm headed somewhere dangerous. The reality is, you really don't want to travel with me -- I'm known to wear out people half my age, and coming home there's barely enough extra room in my suitcase for a postcard. Secondly, Dubai is probably as safe as Durham, NH.
This is probably my sixth trip to Dubai, but the first one in which I have actually been an official part of News Group International, which is based in Dubai and is the reason I've become such a regular visitor to these parts.
My first meeting was with my colleagues at SocialEyez, (@social_eyez) the hot young social media measurement and engagement company stated by News Group in 2010. With a stellar client list and amazing range of services, it's taking the region by storm. This is Manal who heads up the team. She confesses to speaking Arabic with an LA accent since she grew up in Yonkers and Southern California. Whatever you do, don't try to stand in her way when she's on a mission. Like most of the crew here, she is passionate about what she does and can find a solution for just about anything. You want to measure social media in Libya in the middle of a revolution? just ask Manal. She's already done it.
This is the team I met with who on Sunday decided to organize a Google+ Hangout on Monday night with my co-author Beth Kanter and another IRL workshop on Social Media Measurement Standards with MEPRA at the Westin in Dubai on Wedensday morning -- NEXT WEEK. It can take me that long to organize my laundry!
This is what the view is like from their very bustling offices in Dubai Silcon Oasis, a business and residential development about 15 minutes from downtown.
And this where I sit with Giselle Bodie, CEO of Salience, our parent company.
So that's the tour of the offices.. More to come.
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