Meme: Five Things You Probably Don't Know About Me.

Robin Wauters from MarketingBlog.eu just tagged me to participate in a meme. The subject is "Five Things You Probably Don't Know About Me" so here goes:

I had my "American Dream" when I was young and tried to fulfill it in 1992. I had saved some money by working in a local pub and left on a plane for New York. Naive as I was at the time I thought I could get hired by a PR agency there. Hell, I spoke 5 languages fluently and had a European PR diploma. When I arrived I discovered the "green card" reality and after about a month left for Miami. My back up plan was to work on a cruise ship for a year or 2. This was possible because most of the time I would be working in international waters. After yet another month and a half of interviews and waiting for a contract I had to come back to Belgium because all my savings were gone. I remember leaving Miami with just 25 cents. The thing was that after 2 weeks back in Belgium I received a letter from Chandris Cruise Ships that I was hired as a purser ! I didn't go back though... In fact I never told my girlfriend at the time that I received a confirmation.

Why a job on a cruise ship you might wonder ? Well here's another thing you probably don't know: I spent a year in the Belgian Navy as a sailor on one of our frigates, the F911 Westdiep. At the time military service was still compulsory and I thought it would be fun to "sail around the world". In fact it wasn't so bad; I was lucky to be on a ship that actually sailed at sea ! We did the Mediterranean and the north of Scotland on several occasions. I almost didn't spend time home at all and the year flew by very fast. Of course I have a zillion of real sailor stories to tell - like the time we faced 8 meter high waves - but this is not the place to write them down. If you want to hear them, buy me a beer one of these.

I am a big fan of these black & white 40/50ies movies with real stars like Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart. My favorite films are - no surprises here - Casablanca and North by Northwest. I started a collection years ago, when you could still tape stuff straight from TV on video tapes ! Every Sunday there was one of these old movies playing on the BBC and I would be ready with my video recorder. Humphrey was even my nickname at high-school because I used to wear a trench coat most of the time. This was before the Neo fashion trend of course. Of course nowadays I have most of them on DVD but I remember when it was very difficult to buy them on video tape. I spent a lot of money ordering them in the US and then ended up paying import taxes which were higher than the tape itself.

I used to practice Aikido, a Japanese martial art. I started when I was 15 and kept at it till I turned 30. At first I didn't tell my parents I was doing this because they thought that martial arts where for bullies. Training was hard at the time, very "Japanese", but my teacher got me interested in the mental side of the art also. I definitely believe it shaped my character and the way I look at life. One of the things that remain from that period is that I still would love to go to Japan and discover this totally different world. If I find time - I know, you just have to make time - I would like to start training again, with a focus on Ken Jitsu, Japanese fencing. I still have my outfit although I don't know if it still fits. 4 years ago I went back to the dojo and tried out a training session again; it was terrible - the young guys I trained more than 10 years ago now got the better of me... Getting old I suppose.

One day I'll write a book. I know, not very original, but I would love to tell the stories of what it was to work in PR for so long. I think I'll start the day I'll retire (if I ever will). As a PR person we know so much of how a company evolves, how it positions itself, how things change. I think it could make for a good "behind the scenes" book. It wouldn't be a business book but rather a collection of memories, stories "from the trenches". I can see the smiles on the faces of the new generation of PRO's when they read how I started in this job by stuffing press releases in envelopes so that the release would get to the reporter in time... I would also cover the changes the profession has seen, with its positive sand negatives. So be warned, one day I'll call upon you to check my spelling mistakes ;-)

Well, that's all folks. I tag Guillaume and Eline.

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