Fun at the UN

[wavelandscott]

This is a long week for me as it is UN General Assembly week in New York. Some of my work responsibilities are to coordinate and represent our company at UN functions.

This is actually a fair amount of work requiring early starts and late nights for this week and a few weeks before.

Tonight I just got back from attending the Australian Prime Minister's reception in support of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). AusAID has made a solid commitment to fight malaria and I am quite proud to be a naturalized citizen from this action.

I had the opportunity to meet Julia this evening as well as a few other Australian civil servants. Everyone was trying to figure out who I was wearing my Australian flag pin but sounding like a yank...it was a real trip!

I did get to enjoy some Australian wine and beer...pity there were no meat pies, sausage rolls or lammingtons but the James Boag did hit the spot!

[h0ughy]

LOL classic. great to see you got some beer

[TrevorW]

Lucky you meeting Julia .......

[gary]

Hi Scott,

Fantastic to hear and good luck!

There is that close link between malaria and poverty and we're proud to have you as
a fellow Australian.

It's such a terrible disease and I can imagine it must be gratifying when you
introduce yourself to others that you can provide some good news on the war
against it.

Best Regards

Gary

[tlgerdes]

It is pity that a lot of good work that AusAid does is undone by local mal-administration and corruption in these countries. My wife has just left one affiliated org because it became too much of a problem for her.

[wavelandscott]

So true Gary...Thanks

[wavelandscott]

No doubt that there is some "stickiness" in some parts of the world locally and this is unfortunate. There are some big differences in this country to country...in general with respect to malaria focused initiatives there has been a lot of effort spent building local capability and capacity to reduce fraud and improve efficacy...not perfect but moving the right direction.

Wow...I sound more like a bean counter compliance person more each day...regardless, there are a lot of folks trying to fix some of the problems of the world and actually making a bit of progress doing it (at least with respect to malaria).

[iceman]

Wear your IceInSpace shirt next time ;)

Sounds like quite an adventure Scott.

[wavelandscott]

Good idea! Today I got another chance to see and speak with the Prime Minister at an MDG Advocates meeting (I was representing our Chairman)...I thanked the PM for the reception but asked her why there were no Lamingtons served...she did not know why.

This meeting was just before her press conference with the Secretary General and others...

One more big day and that will wrap up my UN General Assembly 2012

I am ready for it to be done!

[gary]

Hi Scott,

Your story reminds me of what they say about the six degrees of separation.

Only last Friday my niece was telling me that she greeted the Prime Minister
when she visited her high school in Parramatta that same day.

I know Mike and he could have given me the IIS T-shirt, which I could have
passed to my niece who in turn could have hypothetically passed it to the
Prime Minister who in turn could have passed it onto you. Or perhaps better
still, passed it onto the President of the United States for a truly impressive
IceInSpace photo opportunity. :lol:

[iceman]

ROFL love it Gary!

[wavelandscott]

Too funny...

I have had the good fortune to be in a number of interesting situations...I often think of myself and refer to myself as a kind of Forest Gump. As I sat in the meeting today two seats from Julia and across the table from Ted Turner with the UN Secretary General speaking three seats away I was for the life of me trying to figure out how a farm boy found himself siting at that table with a UN name plate...

Life can be interesting that way sometimes...