ISG- The Gentlemen's Club Of The Future, LOL.
[QUOTE=Rob Hay]Well I work for a multinational which is doing most of its manufacturing in low cost countries. Which accounts for me traveling to so many emerging countries in the last few years. I met most of the rich people in these countries while doing an MBA which had a large population of Latin American students. If you live in Latin America and can afford to go to graduate school in the US and pay that type of money then you are in the top 10% of your country. These guys have to pay cash, no student loans to foreign students.
In a side note of irony, I met a member of this board while on business in Venezuela who pushed me to pursue an interanational MBA, at his alma mater. He reasoned if I like traveling so much and being with hot girls during my travels, why not get paid for traveling. Not sure if hes still active on here but you'd have to go back to the 03', 04' Caracas sections to see who this is but needless to say it was very sound advice. He also said if you want to meet the up and comers, play golf as much as possible during your trips. Its pretty cheap 20, 25 dollars for 18 holes with a caddie in Colombia on most public courses. So I will say alot of the contact you meet on this forum can be helpful.[/QUOTE]From my own little experience I know that if you want to meet/hang out with the key "movers & shakers" in countries such as Colombia, India, or Russia etc. that such opportunities highly depend on the "glamornousnessfactor" associated with "A" certain job. For instance, guys in the computer (hardware) component business meet a total differenent gang of colleagues in the foreign contries that that their boss sends them to, than , let’s say, the "glamorous" financial LBO semi-expats or other high finance or oil/steel related guys that are being send abroad.The people working within the latter groups always seem to know a lot more people that have the right connections on the high end, meaning- in this case- having the key contacts (mamasans) with portofolio’s of: established Colombian actresses/models (think of Natalia Paris, Ana Sofia Henao or Carolina Cruz), national miss Colombia contenders, and Cali moda modelos etc. The (black tie) parties that these groups are throwing tend to be frequented by these type of women a lot more compared to the same parties of the more "boring" work sectors. I'm talking about the true classy mamacita’s without all the nip/tuck that the these La mejor colla/tanga/car audio girls tend to have. In other words, girls that are more cultured, (internationally) educated, not stemming from working class families, and that have that big city State-Of-Mind you were referring to. Beautiful clothing, high heels of Christian Louboutin, black short dresses of Chanel or Balenciaga, jewelry of Bulgari ,watches of Cartier and Hermès bags. (I’m not saying the "modelos" with the flashy colored dresses aren’t studying at an university, because some in fact do, but these girls parents are often not exactly the most sophisticated people out there, who are able to teach their kids a thing or 2 on how to "behave" or how to fit into a higher strata). I'm not surprised that you say that Bogota is the place to be, not Medellin.
Anyway, probably the typical classic adagium will apply to the earlier mentioned "niche market": if you’re not inside, you’re outside. It’s a save thing to say that a lot of small time pensioners, tourists, or just visitors who will stay for months/years for some kind of no-name business, will never get a look from the insight. And you’re also right with the golfing part: it’s always advisable to tag along with your colleagues or associates. Or find out where that high profile golf centre is. You never know if you might be golfing with an important local Rotarian with the right connections that you're after. But I don’t think this golfing thing will work out if you’re some no-name tourist, in other words: an unusable contact.
BTW, funny that you mentioned the common interest/lifestyle fit, because it is true: you always have to be -in all thinkable aspects- like the group you’re trying to get into. A lot of (semi-)expats ( or mongers on an extended stay for that matter)tend to forget that once they arrive in a Third World Country. It’s not cool if you try to stand out from the group you’re trying to get into (especially as a foreigner), or if you buy/rent some fancy flashy sportscar so you can start pimping in some parking lot while cranking op the volume so everyone can listen to the latest Wisin y Yandel CD too. I see guys like that quite often, It’s pretty funny to see what kind of girls are impressed by gringos like that. Not the girls I was talking about earlier, that’s for sure. Always fun to see how some people feel like Kings because their buck is now worth like $10 In Colombia etc.
In regards to the education part, I don’t know if I want to go back to school being in my late 20’s, but what do you think are recommendable majors within such international MBA programs? Same thing you did?
P.S. what kind of manufacturing business were you talking about earlier, Rob?
Take Care.
WHERE can I play some Golf in Colombia?
[QUOTE=Rob Hay]He also said if you want to meet the up and comers, play golf as much as possible during your trips. Its pretty cheap 20, 25 dollars for 18 holes with a caddie in Colombia on most public courses. So I will say alot of the contact you meet on this forum can be helpful.[/QUOTE]Where Can I find a golf course in Medellin!? I've been looking and looking and nothing!
Please help, I'll need rentals and the whole lot.
