IPG 2016 Autumn Conference in New Delhi, India

On Thursday evening all attendees enjoyed a delicious cocktail dinner of Indian cuisine on a perfect evening at the hotel’s Terrace Lawns and an entertaining cultural program at the adjoining Ganga conference hall where many of us showed off our dance skills, or lack thereof.

On Friday morning after an amazing breakfast buffet the conference kicked-off (commenced) with conference host Rahul Chadha welcoming the delegates to India. Our Friday morning agenda included Mr. Shankar Ranganathan speaking on “Investing in India” and Ms. Anna Ligerg presenting on the experience of Swedish companies doing business in India.

Taking a short break from our education of the business environment in India, we listened to the candidate presentation by Mr. Kuncara Budi Santosa and Mr. Tjoepit Samiadji of KKSP & Partners from Indonesia.  I’m sure all delegates were as impressed as I was by their presentation and shared my excitement of the prospect of having delegates from Indonesia.

After the delegate presentation we were further educated about the business environment in India with presentations by Mr. Rohit Kapur and Mr. Per Engstrom.  Mr. Douglas Busvine, the New Delhi Bureau Chief for Reuters gave a fascinating presentation on a Foreign Journalist’s perspective of politics and business in India.  I think we were all impressed by India’s massive economic potential looking into the future but also informed of the enormous future challenges that India will face (one million new jobs will need to be created each month just to keep up with new entrants into the workforce).

Following lunch on the Terrace Lawns we were treated to a presentation by Mr. Jan Willem Alphenaar on the potential of using LinkedIn to its fullest.  I learned a lot about what I should be doing on LinkedIn and currently am not.  We then broke into groups to learn more about LinkedIn’s potential.

Spouses and significant others attending the conference spent Friday enjoying a City Heritage Tour or a Museum Shopping Tour.  On Friday evening all attended the Gala Dinner at the Hotel Taj Mahal Terrace Garden where we enjoyed Indian cuisine (prepared for non-Indian taste buds “mildly spicy”) while listening to Classical music in what turned out to be a delightful evening of fine food and wine, music, and socializing with other Delegates.

On Saturday morning we had the general meeting of IPG and welcomed our newest IPG member firm – KKSP & Partners located in Indonesia; a great addition to the IPG family from a country not previously represented.

On Saturday afternoon many of us had to the opportunity to take a city tour of Delhi (part of the time in Rickshaws) and enjoy the sights, smells (we will never forget the spice market and endless sneezing and coughing) and sounds of an amazing city.  Taking advantage of the opportunity some of us stocked up on spices and teas and other treasures found in this unique city.   The conference concluded on Saturday evening with a dinner at Q La, another delightful evening of fine food, drink and conversation.

Many thanks to our conference host Rahal Chadha, the IPG Board of Directors, Elke Bockisch and any others who worked on making this such a successful and memorable conference as we all look forward to reuniting again in Lisbon.