It seems reasonable for me to write about what I did and what happened to me last week, from somewhere around 3 p.m. on Tuesday to somewhere around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Some time ago I was asked/ invited to speak at the Straumann APAC (Asia Pacific) Next Young Leaders Conference.
At the time, this seemed like an extraordinary opportunity to speak to young dentists in Southeast Asia on the principles of leadership and various other aspects of work in dentistry beyond clinical work (generally the areas of stuff that I'm most interested in now in my career).
And so, on Tuesday, I got picked up by a guy in a car and taken to Heathrow and flew (via Dubai) to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam.
I think it's safe to say now, as the dust settles, that this is one of the best work trips (any trips) that I've ever undertaken.
The location was sensational.
My room was 54 stories up on the Vin Pearl Landmark 81 hotel; I ate my breakfast on the 66th floor, the gym was on the 47th!!
And so while the Venue and the location are outstanding with a full view over Ho Chi Minh City and all the energy and positivity that that place has, the people that I met from Southeast Asia and India were completely and utterly unbelievable and inspirational. The attitude to work of these people is really quite refreshing and atypical of the majority of things I see around me in my own country.
They are super hungry, both to learn and to work and to try to capture success.
They are so committed to looking after patients in the best possible way to provide the best possible care, to add success to them and their teams and their patients.
The first day included a rehearsal of the talk, together with some free time where I could work and prepare and catch up on various aspects of things in an extraordinary speaker's dinner.
The second day was all day at the congress, watching other people's extraordinary work, getting the opportunity to speak on a massive main stage and then providing two workshops around storytelling and presentation.
There was a social event in the evening which was just the best fun ever with one of my new friends from India, and then the next day I had the opportunity to go around Ho Chi Minh City on the back of a moped, driven by the most extraordinary 26-year-old young woman who was a font of knowledge in history, architecture, politics, and the whole story of Vietnam for the last 1000 years.
I topped off my trip to the War Remnants Museum (cried twice) at the absolute horrors that were inflicted through the Vietnam (think American, if you're Vietnamese) war.
I jumped back on the plane on Saturday evening late and then arrived back on Sunday in a bit of a whirlwind, having made extraordinary new friends and feeling absolutely energised for what is to come next.
The work ethic, the energy and the inspiration of Southeast Asian dentistry is infectious. If you ever have the opportunity to go (and you should find one), you will come back transformed.
Blog Post Number - 4590
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