Michael Leander Nielsen’s blog

(Danish sorry, it is about a seminar in Copenhagen on June 19th.)

950x200

Are you a marketing professional, lookingfor inspiration, education and edutainment, you should check out Marketingboss TV (Marketing boss TV).

Check it out here: www.marketingboss.tv

Leander Nielsen er gået bort.

Den 1. januar 2008 sov du stille ind. Hvil i fred, farfar. Rest in piece.

Du levede 91 år på denne jord. Og siden jeg var gammel nok til at forstå, oplevede jeg at du med dit strålende intellekt og din altid nærværende omsorg for dine nærmeste gjorde et godt eksempel for os, som du efterlader.

Du kom fra simple kår, men formåede det til trods at skabe dig en tilværelse, hvor du på mange måder gik imod strømmen. Både som ægtefælle, som fagforeningsmand og politisk engageret. Men også  som manden, der stædigt holdt på sit, når det virkelig galdt.

Du var elsket og du vil blive savnet.

Selv vil jeg savne dine historier. Allesammen. Både dem fra din kåde ungdom og dem om krigen. Men også historierne om præstenken, der gik igen i dit gamle hjem, den om sørøverne, der sejlede helt ind til Barløse og alle de andre interesante historier.

For du var det vi idag kalder en story-teller. Og det var du god til. Jeg var altid fascineret og opmærksom når du berettede. Og interessen var lige stor i 2007, som den var i 1977.

Tak for alt hvad du gav til mig. Tak for den åbenhed og imødekommenhed du viste min kone fra første færd. Tak for den kærlighed og interesse du viste vores børn - dine oldebørn.

Hvil i fred, farfar.

Den, der hører mit ord og tror ham, som har sendt mig, har evigt liv og kommer ikke for dommen, men er gået over fra døden til live"

According to a recent survey, Denmark is - thanks to our alleged wealth, natural beauty, small size, quality eduction and good health care, the happiest country in the world.

The proud owners of brands such as Rolex, Toblerone, Nescafe and the residencand e of the international Red Cross, Switzerland came in second followed by neighbouring Austria. In the far North Iceland came inl fourth place trailed by exotic Bahamas. The land of Nokia and Finlandia - Finland - came in fifth followed by the land of Abba and Björn Borg, Sweden.  The small kingdom of Bhutan surprisingly ranked 8th. in spite of (or because of) a literacy rate of just 47% and a very low GDP per capita (go figure !). Brunei placed 9th - just ahead of Canada finishing tenth.

In terms of GDP per capita, Iceland leads top 10 with a GDP per capita above USD 35.000 closely followed by Denmark with a GDP of USD 34.600. In comparison the GDP per capita of Bhutan is only USD 1.400.

A couple enjoying a coffee in Nyhavn, Copenhagen - Denmark. Being there indeed usually does make one happy. If you arrive unhappy, the only question is how many bottles or glasses of alcohol you need to become happy :-)

I am sure most of you eloquent readers find this article to be old news. And I'm sure that you also find the information that the study that found that presenting information in a “bad news, good news” order leaves a more positive impression than the same information presented with a “good news, bad news” ordering.

But nevertheless. I just learned, that COPERNICUS, who shattered traditional cosmology by contending that the Earth revolves around the Sun, was the second of four children. His bitter opponent, Tycho Brahe, was an only child.

Charles Darwin, whose theory of natural selection overturned traditional views of the creation and evolution of life, was the fifth child of six and Alfred Russell Wallace, the co-discoverer of the theory, was the last of six children. But George Cuvier, an upholder of the creationist view, was the first child of four, as was Louis Agassiz, another opponent of Darwin.

Frank Sulloway, a historian of science who proposes that birth order makes a startling difference in the progress of science, is himself the third of four children.

Dr. Sulloway cites the roles played by these and thousands of other scientists as prime evidence for a provocative theory: researchers who challenge established views tend to be born later in their families while those who support the status quo tend to be firstborns.  And .

After years of research, he has proposed that firstborns are more likely to defend current theories and those born later are more likely to attack them. In the process, he is resurrecting the notion that birth order can to some degree steer personality in later life, an idea that most social scientists have come to reject.

I am a first born ! Darn it !

Yes indeed. Both my wife and I find that Nini Bilton indeed is a highly talented painter. Sad that for the time being painting is merely a hobby of hers. Samples enclosed. (Sadly the painting is already sold).

Ok, it really annoys me. Why can't I seem to find one service, that provides me constant internet access in cities such as Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm etc. Why is that when in the area of Karl Johans G. in Oslo, I am forced to spend an outrageous amount of money for 30 minutes of net-access with one provider, a different amount with a different provider in Oslo Gardermoen Airport, for example, and a third amount at certain hotels in Oslo.

When are the big, leading telcos of this world, going to roll out a WiFi service, which will offer me to buy a day-package, a monthly or even a yearly package, allowing me to get undisturbed, convenient access whereever I am within the city limits and at the same time save me/my company money and the hazzle of spending countless hours searching for the "best-buy" provider? 

In this day and age, it is indeed difficult to understand that quite a few, if not most, (respectable, decent) hotels in Europe still persist in charging guests for internet access.

Why not save the guest the bother. The bother of having to figure out how to get access, of having to go back down to the reception to get the code for the internet, and save us the bother of having to deal with the additional charge. Add it to the room price, please !

OK. That is extreme. And apparently does the job. Awesome marketing innovation.