Women's Entrepreneurship Development Conference WED Conference Website Preparation Soon after returning from Japan in early 2009, I sat down with my two bosses and discussed a conference that they were planning in cooperation with International Labour Organization. The conference was to focus on entrepreneurship in the Arab world and while I had little to no choice in becoming the conference manager, I quickly decided that my main goals were to make the conference informative and practical for participants, not just an excuse to have a three day networking session, while simultaneously using the conference as a personal management training session in delegation. While this focus on female entrepreneurship might seem simple enough, there was an obvious difference in the two sides' appr... read more

Intro I apologize for being in a drought for the last 5 months but between putting together a three-day conference for entrepreneurial women in the Middle East and a few travels here and there, the blog took a backseat. I intend to do some catching up with this series of coming blog entries. New Year's in Japan Tokyo Shrine During New Year's While I previously had very little interest in visiting Japan, there was no way that I was going to turn down a trip there during the 2008-09 winter holiday to see my parents. On the way, I had a layover in Doha, Qatar’s purportedly 5 star luxury airport terminal. Let’s just say my impression was a little less than 5 star. Besides being extremely crowded and having a tax free store the size of ... read more

Day 4: The Invisible Enemy Begins His Assault Day 4 Video Journal I woke up on the fourth day with one thing on my mind, I wanted to get from Cave 3 Camp to Kibo Camp without any major altitude issues. This meant that I needed to remain disciplined about my movements, my breathing, and most of all my sleep. I had a 4 to 5 hour hike ahead of me that would get us into Kibo camp by approximately 1PM and then I would need to get some food inside of me and conserve as much energy as possible until the clock struck midnight, the hour of the final ascent. The mood at camp on the fourth morning was notably more somber than it had been the previous mornings. Overnight the temperature had plummeted to ... read more

Instead of sitting around drinking tea in a new city or lounging around on a beach this coming Eid, I have decided to take on a challenging adventure that includes plenty of dangers and more than likely a headache or two. In mid-December, the location and success or failure of the secret trip will be revealed...... read more

The Story of a Fight Over Olive Trees The sign over the once functioning Golan Hospital reads, “Destructed by Zionists and changed it to firing target.” In 1967 during the Six Day War the Israeli army pushed into the Golan Heights and began an occupation of more than 450 square km of formerly Syrian territory, which included the small village of Al-Quneitra. However, only six years later the during the Yom Kippur War the Syria forces pushed back and negotiated a cease fire with Israel that remains in place today. The cease fire returned 150 square km of territory back to Syria and created a UN monitored buffer zone between the two countries. Within the land returned to Syrian control was Al-Quneitra. Upon withdrawing from Al-Quneitra, the Israeli army displaced all of the towns’ residents and ... read more