Successful Meetings - March 2009 - (Page 26)

PLANNER’S WORKSHOP visionaries Carnegie of Nepal By Andrea Doyle andrea.doyle@nielsen.com The ohn Wood needed a break from his constant, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, business-warrior lifestyle. Nepal seemed like the perfect escape. He trekked for 18 days through areas with no paved roads, no cars, no telephones. Just the getaway he had yearned for. What he didn’t anticipate was that an invitation from a local educator to visit a school would change him forever. More than 450 students were crammed into eight small classrooms, their floors— packed earth. No desks. No chairs. No shelves. It wasn’t the obvious poverty that overwhelmed Wood. It was the poverty of opportunity. “Their library consisted of only 20 books that were backpacker J castoffs, completely inappropriate for children. I wondered, ‘How can you ever break the cycle of poverty if kids don’t get educated?’ ” Wood promised to return to the school within a year with enough books to create a decent library. Using the power of connectivity, he emailed everyone he knew asking for book donations. Within a month, there were 3,000 books in his parents’ Colorado garage. Wood and his father returned to Nepal, and on the backs of six rented donkeys, delivered the books they had collected. “The students just mobbed us. They couldn’t wait to get their hands on these books. They had never seen such brightly colored children’s books before. As 26 I SM I March 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - March 2009

Successful Meetings - March 2009
Contents
Editor's Letter
News Update
Education
Management Matters
Meetings Law
Mouth for Sale
Visionaries
And the Award Goes to...
Taking Green Initiatives to the Top
Events of Presidential Proportion
It's a Small World After All
Places + Spaces
Big Island Supplement-Insert
NYC Metro
Houston
Oahu
The Bahamas
Memphis
Passport

Successful Meetings - March 2009