The Feinbaum Chronicles

I’m hanging out with two of my oldest friends Richard Grimes and Mike Bateman at this years Comic-Con 2007. It’s the comic book and science fiction convention that draws over 120,000 freaks and geeks over a 4 day weekend.

The event is a big draw for the movie studios who are dependent on the demographic of comic-con to help the buzz meter of future movies. Some of the folks speaking today included Steve Carrell for his new movie “Get Smart”. Also on hand, Peter Fonda, Kate Beckinsale, The Rock, Joel Silver, Ben Foster, Ridley Scott, Sean Young, Stan Lee, Ed Burns, Kevin Smith, Matt Groening (creator of the Simpsons), Robert Downey Jr (for the new Iron Man movie) and many others.

I can’t describe how the experience of navigating the exhbit hall and convention center with 120,000 raving fans. It is just plain crazy!

More picture if you click the photo.

Alton Brown-Miami

Originally uploaded by Ron Feinbaum.

Melissa and I headed down to sunny Miami last month for the Food Network/Food & Wine Festival. We sampled more food and drink that any two people should be able to consume. It was great!

Here is a picture of Melissa with Alton Brown from the show “Good Eats” on Food Network.

I’m happy to report that on December 15, 2006 I graduated from the University of Tennessee Senior Executive MB A program.

In the picture is my brother Bart who flew in from Michigan for the event. I had some other family and friends come to the ceremony including my wife Melissa, my mother, my sister-in-law Rhoni and my mother-in-law Judy. Ron and Ebbie Sandberg also attended.

It’s worth noting that my friend and neighbor Chris Hancock was on hand wearing his University of Georgia sports coat. Go Dawgs???

You can check out more on the MBA program at:

http://semba.utk.edu/

Click on the picture to see a few more candid photos from the event.

Today we spent the entire morning and afternoon preparing and delivering our synthesis project to the faculty. We did something called a CAGE analysis which stands for Culture, Administrative, Geography and Economic. We analyzed these factors for Bangalore, China and Hong Kong. Our assignment was around the concept that we were consultants hired by a fictitious company to explore the options for acquiring or starting a technology/consulting firm into Asia. We also did the same CAGE analysis on our first day in Bangalore.

Tonight we head over to Disney Hong Kong for a dinner and time in the park. After that I head back on a midnight flight to Knoxville. I hope everyone has enjoyed the blog and I’ll try to post something when I get back to the states. Feel free to leave your comments by clicking on the comments button below.

China 001

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

Here is the Wal-Mart in mainland China. I found it interesting that Wal-Mart hasn’t open a store in either Hong Kong or Bangalore but they are in China. I also saw an Ikea furniture store in China.

China 003

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

We had a long day yesterday as we trekked into mainland China. We took a 1 hour boat ride into the mainland and started the day visiting Shekou. In Shekou we visited a mineral museum. Next stop was a 2 1/2 bus ride to Guangzhow. We had lunch plus toured around a bit. It was amazing seeing how many factories lined they highways on the 2 1/2 bus ride (as far as the eye could see). Also, they have a huge pollution problem. It’s always smoggy and overcast and the sun never really breaks through the clouds….ever.

After a long day, we took a 2 hour train ride back into Hong Kong. It ended up being a 13 hour day trip into China. Well worth the visit.

Hong Kong Jockey Club

Originally uploaded by feinbaum.

We all visted the Hong Kong Jockey Club this evening for a tour, dinner and night of horse racing. The HKJC is a not for profit race track supported by the HK government. All excess revenue goes back into the community. They give about a billion Hong Kong dollars per year back to schools, hospitals, parks, etc. They are also the largest tax payer in Hong Kong paying about 10% of all taxes collected by the Hong Kong government. They also built the new University of Hong Kong Science and Technology University which we also visited today. That cost them somewhere around $3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

I think Adam is displaying some sort of Australian modern dance move.