So here we are, a few of us anyway, at SIBOS 2012 in Osaka, Japan.
Having faced a lengthy and, for some, gruelling journey of
24 hours or more, the welcome greeting you find at the INTEX Centre is second
to none.
But then you get into the spirit of things, and my spirit is
obviously second to none too.
I’m actually here as I’m one the two anchors – I SAID “ANCHOR”
– at the innotribe stream.
This is something I've been looking forward to, as agitator in residence, although I was a bit suprised that innotribe
appeared to be much smaller this year, appearing inside a small container
vessel offloaded from a Chinese container ship.
But then I discovered the Chinese had withdrawn from this
year’s SIBOS due to some argument with Japan about Ireland – must be that European sovereign
debt thing.
A jolly good thing as the Japanese had all gathered and enabled innotribe to be more
successful through collaborative thinking.
Must be something wired about this place.
Anyways, as I wander around, I find lots of things are to my
liking. The only thing to my disliking
is the fact that no-one here speaks any language other than Japanese.
Sure, there are some English translations, but most are lost
in translation.
This is the only reason I can think of that would explain
why Microsoft’s massive launch of Windows 8 has just gone down the toilet …
I should say that I merely refer to Microsoft's stand this year being located next ot the toilets, and nothing about the company's quality of products or services.
Ah well, whether Japan loses something
in the translation of the latest banking issues remains to be seen. All I can say is that I’m staying next to a
hotel that is lovely, but designed for this country’s ageing population.
[see note if confused]
Having said that, I may soon be following
them based upon the amount of walking, talking and frustration I’ve experienced
so far in getting to SIBOS 2012. Trust
you’ve all fared better.
Now, off to see the show.
See ya later …
[Note: OAP = Old Age Pensioner in the UK, a classification for Over 65's only]
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Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...