Liam Dann: How Mitterrand fell for Mickey Mouse

Michael Eisner

"I don't mean to name-drop," says the man widely credited with saving Disney in the 1980s. Thankfully, he did. He's had the sort of career that allows him to drop the names that make for arresting anecdotes.

How about the time George Bush Snr helped him save EuroDisney by pulling a fast one on Francois Mitterrand? Mitterrand had dealt the Paris-based amusement park a terrible blow on opening day by declaring he didn't think much of it and the crowds were staying away.

At a chance dinner meeting with Bush Snr, Eisner recounted the story. Bush promised to pull a few strings next time he was Paris.

True to his word, he lured Mitterrand to a dinner at the EuroDisney hotel, where the disgruntled French leader was ambushed with a surprise media outing - and told to smile and wave.

Act on your ideas, Eisner said. "We all have great ideas all the time but most people never act on them."

And don't be afraid of bad ideas.

Eisner - who prior to leaving Disney last year was the highest paid executive in the world - admits to a few shockers. Like his plans for a Colossus of Rhodes style Mickey Mouse hotel straddling the street outside Disney HQ.

And the Disney brand car? He was dead serious about that for a while.

Eisner is a funny guy. Of the magic he worked at Disney, he said: "Honestly, it was in much better shape than people think ... I guess saying that kind of lessens the impact of my speech." It didn't.


Jack Perkowski

When it comes to having a captive audience you can't beat opening for an American President.

For security reasons, the China expert's speech was compulsory viewing for the media if they wanted to see Big Bill.

At least he could see the funny side.

"My parents gave me the name Jack. The Chinese have given me a local name. I've only been in New Zealand for eight hours and I already have another nickname: Who is ... ?"

Perkowski looked like an old-school American capitalist. You'd get Joe Pesci to play him in a movie and he really should have had a single malt in one hand and a cigar in the other.

But for the numerous exporters in the crowd, Perkowski's frank advice on doing business in China was one of the highlights of the day.

Example One: No matter how hard it is to put in place, you have to build your own local Chinese team to staff your business. That's the only way you'll get the understanding of costs you'll need to succeed.

Example Two: Asked about what the Chinese want to buy as their wealth grows, he had already polled his Chinese staff. "Ten years ago, the answer was TVs, fridges and cars. Today, it is healthcare and education."

This is from a man who has been there and done it in China. He left his job as a Wall Street banker to set up a car components company in 1994.

His company, ASIMCO, now has 18 factories and sells US$400 million worth of car parts a year in China.

* If there is one New Zealand company that could use a chat with Perkowski it is Fonterra, which has just embarked on a joint-venture in China. So it was great to see the dairy giant's strategy man, Graham Stuart, had him cornered at the coffee break.

Too bad for Stuart, he couldn't shake those pesky politicians, John Key and Phil Goff, who seemed desperate to crash the conversation.


Bill Clinton

Without a doubt the Elvis of American presidents. The sense of excitement around the fact that Clinton had entered and/or left the building was palpable.

Just like The King in his Vegas years, he started slowly - head down, mumbling quietly, almost threatening to disappoint - before building to a crescendo of passion and enthusiasm for saving the world that will have turned hardened business brains into campaigners for cheaper Aids drugs, bio-diesel and wind power. For the rest of the day at least. This was an audience that had paid a lot of money to be star struck and they weren't disappointed. What made it special was that he wowed the crowd with his message, not his humour.

* For those who wanted to get really close to Clinton there was a meet-and-greet session held just before his speech ... allegedly costing $5000 a pop. We'd love to tell you who queued up for the chance to touch greatness but the lights went out just as we were expecting the chosen to troop back into the auditorium for his speech. Coincidence ... hmmm.

* Clanger of the day:

Master of ceremonies Jim Bolger introducing TelstraClear boss Alan Freeth (who was in turn introducing Michael Eisner).

After explaining that Freeth was previously head of rural services company Wrightson, Bolger declared that "there must be some connection between selling fertiliser to farmers" and selling telecommunications ... (cue awkward silence). Luckily, Freeth turned out to be articulate.


Carly Fiorina

Introduced by Theresa Gattung (clearly a fan), the mediaeval history graduate was frank about her dumping as chief executive of Hewlett Packard (HP) last year. Despite more than doubling the company's revenue, she fell victim to a public falling out with the board.

"I was fired. It's okay to say it," she said. "I guess you'd say sacked in this part of the world."

Fiorina's story is a remarkable; her first job was as a receptionist. Twenty-five years later, she was leading HP into a merger with Compaq to create one of the world's biggest companies.

Fiorina encouraged the audience to embrace change and talked about the leadership technique needed to help people overcome their innate fear of change.

Find the "fear warrior" within.

* Changes for Kiwibank ... Following on with Fiorina's themes of fear and change, Bolger chimed in. This week he had been chairing a board meeting at which he had observed that "change is the most terrifying word in the English language". Bolger is chairman of of Kiwibank. Was that a clue?