Nights be a drawing in, but goose yet to get fat

By: Dave Leggett - 3 October 2007 18:47

Got to hand it to the well organised PRs at Automotive PR. They are very quick off the mark every year to get the invitations out to journalists to attend their Christmas Party and mine has fluttered through the letterbox today. It's on November 22 this year and it's usually a very jolly occasion made all the jollier for the free flowing booze and nibbles.

Alas, there will be much more booze to go around this year as I won't be able to make it. I have already agreed to moderate a session on that day at an automotive conference at the IESE business school in Barcelona.

I would put a link in here to the event so you can see the programme, but - bizarrely - I can't find any mention of the event on the IESE website. The theme this year is 'managing global uncertainty' and I'm moderating a session entitled the 'optimal use of assets'. Actually, the two-day programme looks quite good and speakers include Luca de Meo (Fiat Auto CEO), Tim Tozer (Mitsubishi Europe), Yoshi Inaba (Toyota board member) and Eric Schmitt from SEAT.

Maybe it's one of those rarified events where you get invited to attend and they don't try too hard to promote it; a clubby thing of some sort. Actually, the bloke who asked me to get involved (Alexander van de Ven, MD of Antwerp-based vehicle distributor Automanager) said they are busy trying to broaden the event's outlook and make it less an Iberian affair (which helps to explain how my name may have cropped up). You'd think they'd get the programme up on the website by now though wouldn't you?

Anyway, I did find this report on last year's gathering.

Annual Auto Industry Meeting Analyzes the Road Ahead