FROM ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

St. Petersburg - Day 2

Show Time... My Speech

SAINT PETERSBURG, May 25, 2006 - Today was show time for me... the main reason for this trip; the day of my keynote speech at a big IT conference on innovation.  How big?  About 650 registered attendees, I was told by my IBM hosts. 

This auditorium, I was also told, holds 700 seats.

And this is what they looked like from the speaker's podium while empty, before the start of the conference...

... and now also showing the opening slide, including the image of the Church of Spilled Blood that I took yesterday.

And how did the speech go?  Well, I got the best compliment ever in over 20 years of public speaking from the head of the PR firm that IBM uses to stage these conferences in Russia.  Alexander (the man standing on the podium above) ran up to the stage to congratulate me after the speech saying, "it was simply brilliant!"  But what I took as the greatest kudo was what he said next.  He added that some of the people in the audience had asked him if I were a professional actor?!  J

Guess they are not used to business executives or consultants being hamming it up on stage - another example of the re-fusion of arts and sciences - a topic that was a part of my speech.  Anyway, that comment made my day...

It did not hurt, either, that about a dozen or so university professors lined up afterward to give me their business cards, and ask if they could have a copy of my presentation so they could use it in their curriculums, with proper attribution, of course.

Click here to view SPEECH TEXT (PDF); 

Click here to view PRESENTATION SLIDES (PDF, 2MB)

I figured I had to thank someone for my good fortune today, so I thanked St. Peter.  Not just because this all took place in St. Petersburg.  But also because our way to the conference center, we passed this beautiful structure (Kazan Cathedral) that looks like St. Peter's at the Vatican.  My driver told me that that's because it was designed by the same architect.

Later this evening, I also thanked Peter I (Peter the Great), the founder of St. Petersburg, depicted here as the horse rider in a statue erected in his honor by Catherine II (Catherine the Great) in 1782.  I thought it interesting that the horse's right hoof appears to be stepping on a serpent and killing it.  I suspect there is some sort of symbolism in this detail, but it was lost on me.  Gotta ask Dan Brown for an explanation... (by the way, "Da Vinci Code" movie posters are all over town).

Just as I got to Peter, the skies opened up... this is what the storm clouds looked like driven by strong winds.  So I hurried back to the hotel in the rain.

On the way back from Peter I, I passed various Admiralty Buildings (above)...

... the Isaac's Cathedral...

...and again the Winter Palace of which I took this close-up.

Back at the hotel, while drying out, I continued to enjoyed the art on the hotel lobby walls...

...such as this Van Dyck (early 17th century), for example, that casually hands behind the concierge desk...

...or this Bonifaci (early 17h century)...

...or this Moses painting done by a painter whose name I've forgotten...

...as well as this portrait of Fredrik I, done by 17th century artist (Schroeder).  Just a couple of additional examples of artistic gems that one can find around this hotel.

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