Out on the Town

Since Julia’s arrival we have hit the town hard – frequenting local hotspots and tourist attractions of every kind. Last night, we dined at an Armenian restaurant named Sarkis, in Pallermo. Everything about Sarkis was delicious! Dinner wrapped up early (around midnight) and we hailed a cab back to Recoleta for a night cap in a trendy bar named Million.

The next morning, we toured Recoleta cemetery and completed our afternoon with Four Seasons tea service.

The tea was fantastic and so were the sweets – we both overindulged and left with stomachaches. With hands shaking from caffeine and chocolate covered lips, we checked out of the Four Seasons and moved our things back to my apartment to digest. After several hours of recuperating, we strapped our boots on and walked across town to Café Tortoni, Argentina’s oldest café, for a tango show.

She's Here

After nearly 4 months of separation, my wonderful girlfriend Julia has arrived in BsAs. Following her 12 hour red eye flight, we kick started the day with a bike tour of the city. Luckily for Julia the weather forecast is 65 and sunny every day she is scheduled to be here. Sure beats the 40 and rainy it has been the last few weeks – I guess she brought the good weather with her. The bike tour (I am a repeat customer) was fun, but a little dangerous this go round. Between weaving through bumper to bumper traffic, avoiding the 10 year old hecklers and a crazy hombre screaming profanities at me after nearly hitting his car with my bike, Julia’s introduction to the city and reintroduction to the bicycle was … to say the least, interesting.

We then transitioned from the shoddy bike ride to the ever-luxurious Four Seasons! It has been a wonderful perk of ours, staying at Four Seasons’ properties around the Americas, Toronto, NYC, Washington DC, Whistler, and Vancouver –the Buenos Aires property fits the bill nicely. We cleaned up and met Steve and some of our Argentine friends for dinner and drinks. What a day.
Room View,
1) 2)
Other notables from Julia’s first 24 hours in BsAs:
1) Everyone thinks she is Argentine. She has been approached several times by locales asking for directions, time, and other miscellaneous inquiries (why are you hanging out with this gringo?)
2) Always loco for pollo, Julia and I shared a massive lamb tenderloin for our first meal. She ate, and enjoyed, the well-done outside portion… baby-steps. Thank you, Dr. Leo Marvin.
3) 1 day down, 4 to go in Buenos Aires. Next, Iguazu Falls and then Cusco/Machu Picchu. Stay tuned.

Wrap 'er up

I write this note as I recently sent my final obligated deliverable to my team. Yes, it is my last day! After a seemingly infinite amount of review cycles through our models and presentations, our recommendations including the business case and operating model are complete. As the project charter moves forward, using the endowment from the Rockefeller foundation, these documents are bound to evolve - but I certainly feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment from my contributions and efforts. We successfully storyboarded and proved-out that there are opportunities for substantial savings by utilizing shared services. Furthermore, in hindsight, it is quite evident the nature of the project was extremely complex (gotta stroke the ego) – 22 Organizations, uncountable stakeholders (Accenture, NetHope and Member Organization leads) and very tight deadlines – but we managed to meet and exceed our expectations. There is a stylish new concept in and around the NGO space, and it is shared services. Cheers!

You stay classy, Buenos Aires

It Has Finally Arrived

After years of anticipation, Argentina’s first Starbucks has opened. The lines are phenomenally long as swarms of coffee connoisseur’s, from all over, finally have an opportunity to overpay for a mediocre blend and their daily caffeine/sugar fix. (Sorry Vini, at heart I will always be a Dunkin Donuts fan). Although I must say, the overall quality of coffee and service in BsAs cafes is much better than the average coffee shop back home. The residents of Buenos Aires (they call themselves Porteños) love their cafes. In some neighborhoods there is one on every corner – elegant little places that are busy all day long. Additionally, there are massive cafes with huge banks of pastries on display. Your beverage is always served backed by a small glass of soda water plus a croissant or small sample sized pastry. Families and groups of friends sit around for hours, talking over a cup of coffee. McDonalds has also adapted successfully to the Portenos way of life. McCafes seem to do the trick here.
Also, (I have wanted to blog about this one for awhile) there is McDelivery. Big Mac, fries, and a Coke to your door for $2.50 peso (80 ¢). On the phone they ask what denomination of Peso you will be using and your change is ready in and envelop with your meal. But McDonalds isn’t the only one to deliver. In Recoleta, my adopted neighborhood, everyone delivers! Cafes, restaurants, groceries, even the local supermarket Disco. Just another example of the many efficiencies gained through urban living.

For your viewing pleasure, I thought I'd attach two of my favorite Starbucks commercials. Enjoy!

1) Glen!, Glen Glen Glen! This Survivor spoof from the Rocky song "Eye of the Tiger," perfectly depicts how I felt my first week of work fresh out of undergrad. But alas, an internal monolgoue can take you so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0XOogOe1Ps&feature=related

2) This clip reminds me of my roomate in college, Matt McDonald, who might bite your head off if he didn't have his 44oz "cup of Joe" in the morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbmoLQrqPvo

Rocksteady

Per the most recent blog about the project, I mentioned some of the difficulties we faced while creating a business case for NGO's to utilize a shared services operating model. Because no NGO operates in the realm of profit, they tend to run as "lean" as possible. No cost exists worth cutting - everything is a necessity. However, we have recently made great progress in creating a compelling story for a shared services strategy, an “ace in the hole” if you will.

Large charitable trusts and foundations exist solely to donate their funds to the noble and practical causes of NGO’s and non-profits. Such foundations include the Gates Foundation, J. Paul Getty Trust, Ford Foundation and others. We have recently come to an agreement with the Rockefeller Foundation to finance the near-term organizational design, location selection and governance model. This is huge! The more time consultants (even at 50% cost) are on the ground analyzing the situation, the quicker the business case for quantitative benefits diminishes. Furthermore, Rockefeller has expressed interest in becoming the sole investor in such strategic long term investments, including outsourcing and shared services. This exponentially simplifies, at least one scenario, of the business case. Foundational funding could be used broadly to set up the new environment and annual grants could continue the service based on outcomes. Steady rockin!