Blogging from Slovenia…

The past 72 hrs have been nothing short of fun and exciting….Slovenia is a beautiful country…Here is a brief recap of my days in Slovenia…

I arrived in Slovenia at 11 AM on Aug 23, 2007 via Munich. Met Peter at the airport and then headed to Hotel Emonec (http://www.hotel-emonec.com/). After dropping off my bags, we headed out in the city. After roaming through the Ljubljana city center (http://www.ljubljana.si/), we grabbed a pint and some food at a local pub. Then, we took a stroll through the main entertainment part of the city (obviously, stopping at a few pubs and engaging in a few scholarly discussions!) Then, we met up with Miha Škerlavaj (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, Department of Management and Organization) and continued our discussions on scholarly activities, research strategies, and publishing nightmares. This was followed by dinner at Pete and Lidija's. The dinner was excellent and so was the conversation (and wine!)…The final event of the night was more evening discussions on scholarly activities with Robert Kaše, a PhD student at the University of Ljubljana.

Aug 24, 2007 – Had an early morning breakfast at the hotel, went for a run through the town, and then got ready for my day of meetings. At 9 AM, drove with Pete to meet with executives from TRIMO (http://www.trimo.si/client/index.php). We had an excellent meeting at TRIMO (originally, the meeting was scheduled for only 1hr and 15 minutes…the meeting ran over by about an hour). I had a chance to hear about the innovation challenges at TRIMO, share some of my thoughts on these challenges, and work to build a collaborative partnership. I want to thank all members of TRIMO who attended the meeting (I counted over 15 senior executives in the room!)…I was honored to receive a gift, and a hand-written thank you note, from the CEO and Director of TRIMO, Tatjana Fink. We then, headed back to Ljubljana and grabbed a quick snack and pint. Next, we met up with Bojana Humara of Manager Magazine (http://www.manager-on.net/). During the interview, we discussed my views on entrepreneurship, national security, business innovation…and even my choice of scotches! We then had another quick break, before meeting Prof. Dr. Talib Damij (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics). We discussed life in Ljubljana, the transformations in academia, especially at the University of Ljubljana and the IS field, and even about language issues in the Middle East. After having a dinner with Pete, I then headed back to the hotel to get some rest. I then met up with Pete about 10 PM, and enjoyed the nightlife of Ljubljana…

August 25, 2007 – Headed to the Slovenian coast at about 2 PM...cruised in Pete’s BMW Z on the way to the coast…Spent most of the day in Piran and Portoroz and loved it…Was able to pass through Trieste (Italy) and see it from Piran and was able to also see Croatia…During the evening, we discussed research progress that Pete is making on his dissertation and collaboration on future research…Headed back to the hotel after a busy work day…

Today, August 26th, I will be heading to Bled in a few hrs for the Bled Strategic Forum (see http://www.bledstrategicforum.org/index.php?id=4&lang=en).