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Three men, three women and a boy

posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 05:51 AM

It’s the morning after and I am sitting in my hotel room in Bangkok. Last night I felt utterly physically and emotionally drained and so I went to a street bar thinking it would help me unwind. Into only my second gin and tonic, I started talking to a local guy who after a few minutes asked if I was drunk. I laughed somewhat deliriously and wonder how much I am harming the reputation of the Irish as a nation who can hold their drink. And it was St Patrick's Day too! My shame.

I closed the Summit with some thank you and a short speech. But after every speech I make I wonder at what I could have said and this was no different. I could have talked about the man with a very pretty face and the softest voice you could ever wish to listen to. We discussed his project for half an hour and yet I never asked him why he was doing it. I could have talked about the guy who at the beach bar the night before thought I was going to steal something from him. I would never do that. I thought about the man who I spoke to a lot. He has so much talent and yet he does not know what to do with it.

I thought about the woman who I only spoke properly to whilst we sat on plastic chairs on the beach. She didn’t say much in the main Summit arena but she listened a lot and I bet she will be amongst the first to sign up next time. I thought about the young woman who no matter how often I tell her I love her, she never seems to hear me. And another woman who is thinking, “well at least its better than working for that bloody Italian”.

And I thought about the only partnership I made myself at the summit which is rather ironic given I had spent so much time encouraging others to form lots of partnerships. At the beach party under a beautiful moon, Khalid told me how unlike other Afghan’s his age, he did not want to run away and forget about his country’s horrible plight but he wanted to do something about it. I was impressed and I offered to open my contact book for him and encourage my contacts to open their own contact books for him and I was happy to advise him on how best to handle some of these people as they can sometimes be a little tricky. But in exchange I wanted him to teach me about his country's culture and in particular what turns on people like him because unless I can understand that, i-genius will never find its place in Afghanistan. He held out his hand and we shook on our deal.

But then Khalid immediately tested our new partnership by asking me the hardest question anyone had asked me over the past four days and it was not ‘how do you define a social entrepreneur’ which others seemed so interested to discuss. He asked me “did I think Afghanistan would ever be a success?” Wow, that was a bit below the belt I thought. Don’t get me wrong. I am a well practiced politician from old and I can usually answer questions so fast they have barely left the lips of the questioner. But this was a tough one. How do I answer this question to him??

For the next 30 seconds we sat there at a table whilst i pondered my answer. Everyone else was drinking and having their massages. It was a very long 30 seconds. Somehow the old skills I had fine-tuned in the past weren’t working this time. But then I remembered something. I told him “I come from Northern Ireland. We have 400 years of history and most of it has been bad. But things have changed recently and it is ok now. This does not answer your question but if there are people like you who are willing to do something and maybe you will in time discover others who think like you, then there is hope”.

Now my speech at the end of the Summit began to make sense to me. “A few years ago I had a dream to create a world community of people who wanted to change the world. I met with a social entrepreneur organisation who based on their 25 years experience told me no one will join this community unless I developed a sophisticated selection process to ensure the quality of its members. I ignored their advice. Now, after one year of trading we have members in over 90 countries and over 80 people chose to travel from far and wide to meet at a spot in Thailand. Amongst the participants were the former boss of CNN international and a 17 year old who was from Afghanistan. They both had quality! I want to thank you for helping me begin to realise my dream. I declare the first i-genius world summit, at the Indigo Pearl, Phuket, Thailand, closed. Good bye”

Comments

Peter Ongera

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 08:09 AM

Congratulations. Let's have the second summit in Kenya.Lots to learn from.I hope it is not too late to start lobbying for Kenya to host the next summit. Regards

Peter Ongera

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 08:11 AM

Congratulations. Let's have the second summit in Kenya.Lots to learn from.I hope it is not too late to start lobbying for Kenya to host the next summit. Regards

Peter Ongera

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 08:11 AM

Congratulations. Let's have the second summit in Kenya.Lots to learn from.I hope it is not too late to start lobbying for Kenya to host the next summit. Regards

Tim Rann

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 09:56 AM

Amazing summit. Thanks for all your hard work - it really paid off. I feel incredibly inspired, so much so I've spent the last day and half interviewing local businesses and typing furiously to make my idea a reality. I am glad the conference was less academic and more about people... like you articulated above, there's a heck of a lot more to entrepreneurship and social action than jargon and definitions and we should always keep that in mind. Cheers! -Tim

Barry Crisp

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:24 AM

You`re a credit to the human race!

SarahJayne Edwards

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 05:31 AM

I am so energised and inspired after returning from Phuket. Tommy you truly are an amazing person. Although we didn't speak much I listened to all your speeches and public talks. If only there were more of you in the world........ Great! It seems as though you are truly living your purpose.

SarahJayne Edwards

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 05:32 AM

I am so energised and inspired after returning from Phuket. Tommy you truly are an amazing person. Although we didn't speak much I listened to all your speeches and public talks. If only there were more of you in the world........ Great! It seems as though you are truly living your purpose.

Tommy Hutchinson

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 06:15 AM

Thank you. Any more messages like these and i will start crying again x

Peter Ongera

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 08:16 AM

Stop crying.

Barry Crisp

Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:04 PM

Save those tears for the next summit or for when Project London has been completed.

David McQueen

Sunday, March 23, 2008 07:05 PM

Awesome