Cocktail

Kreuzberg revisited. Had (quite a decent) dinner at Goldene Hahn and (sadly not the usual good) daiquiris at Orient Lounge with my Hamburg buddy Jörg Geier (who probably has the most Google hits of anyone I know). Before we both got a little too drunk to be serious, he managed to tell me about The Club Of Rome, where he works. I guess I am sceptical towards all self-righteous organisations where well-off people try to convince other less fortunate that the world shouldn't just be about money, but maybe they can play an important role in changing the mindset of policy makers. At least he gets to travel a lot :)

Candyman

Driving back to Malmö from Linköping I decide to stop for coffee in picturesque Gränna by the Vättern lake. Gränna is (at least in Sweden) known for a special candy, polkagrisar (polka-pigs).
Curious to see how they package and brand these tourist treasures, I browsed some of the high street candy-workshops, but the result was quite disappointing. Packaging and setting are the same basic Swedish standard that I remember from being a kid, and product-development seems non-existing. Too bad, since there is a lot of potential in branded delikatessen, even if it's origin is very humble.
Two companies that have understood this are the Greek Mastiha Shop and the Slovenian Soline. The basic products - rubber extract from Chios and salt from Secovlje - are nothing special, but the product development around them is. And the packaging is delicious.
Something for the South-Swedish apple industry to learn from. I found a weak attempt in one of the Gränna shops (blog pic), but it could be so much more.

The Kid

From Hultsfred to Linköping, to see my sister and family. Including this little brat, Alexander, my nephew and god-son. So far, my contributions to his upbringing has been limited to fashion statements (a hood from Oxford University, a ridiculously cute fur-lined down jacket from Turin... - this is so much fun) but I guess - and hope - that it will be more substantial (and subversive) as he gets older.

If value, then copy

Friday night, Hultsfred festival, Sweden. Hässleholm is building up atmosphere on the Atlantis stage with swinging electronic retro-beats and open-source preaching on the screens. A combo of Sophie Rimheden, Andreas Tilliander and others, we're told that this is a one-off show. Why? This is fantastic. Do you take or do you give when you party?

Wonderboys

Visiting ESMT, the new business school in Berlin. The irony of its location in Honecker's old party headquarters on Schlossplatz is quite intreaguing, and the renovation of the beautiful and amazingly impractical building almost has a religious touch to it (even the advanced machinery that moved all the maps around on the wall in Honecker's battle-like HQ has been kept).
ESMT is a new invention, an attempt from German big-business to create an alternative to the foreign MBA factories like Harvard and Sloane, where Daimler & Co usually sends their protegees. €100M has been collected from 25 companies to create the foundation that hosts the school and an international (and partly still un-proven) faculty has been hired.
The first 1-year MBA class started in January this year, 30 Wunderkinder (hopefully) from 15 countries. Brave youngsters, I'd say, trying out a new, unknown school - an MBA being such a strong personal branding investment (look who's talking, having chosen The Kaospilots myself...). But with the €50.000 fee paid by their employer or by the ESMT foundation itself, the decision is easier.
Since most people who do MBAs are heading for corporate careers, I guess my persona seemed a bit pointless to most of the students, but something interesting might still come out of this. At least, it's great for Berlin that the heavy industrial players build a presence here.
More photos.