A long time ago in this blog I wrote about a professor of stem cell research who attended a Nottingham dental meeting many years ago, sat at the bar before the meeting with casual clothes on and his rucksack on his back reading the paper and drinking a pint.
When the host came into the bar to look for the speaker all he could see were dentists in suits and fancy clothes with big watches who’d come out of their fancy cars and one ‘scruff’ at the bar.
This was a fascinating interchange to watch because the organiser was sure that the speaker wasn’t there, but he just didn’t look the way he was supposed to look.
In the end it was one of the most wonderful education evenings I’ve ever known by someone was an absolute expert in a field which was changing the world and who would go on to become a complete game changer despite the fact he was not interested in bobbles or bangles or bright shiny objects.
Recently, I had the chance to speak to people I work with about organising events and they were recounting the stories (even from recently) of speakers at dental events and their demands and expectations of how they should be looked after because of ‘how important they are’.
Some speakers demand to be picked up from airports and stations by specific car brands (Aston Martin in the case I was talking about). Others attend meetings with their businesses partners (actually their knockoffs) and demand larger rooms and suites and other luxury’s and three-night stays where they can enjoy the city and all sorts of ludicrous nonsense that they clearly are able to pay for themselves but choose not to do so because they are so important.
Funnily enough though, the people who demand these things are usually the people who are the least likely to change the world and often the one who have the greatest impact are the guys who are happy to sit quietly at the bar reading a newspaper and drinking a pint.
Blog Post Number - 3059
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