Foreign Work

The allure of Europe for media and marketing certainly makes sense; there are so many markets looking for smooth ideas and polished programs. Unfortunately, sometimes taking your talents to the land of the Euro isn't as cushy as it sounds.

Romania's Arcul de Triumf, a replication of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe.

It seems that only a crazy person would pass up being paid to work in a profession you love while traveling around another country, the entire time being treated like a king as the local companies treats their new marketer with love.

Unfortunately, sometimes Europe it isn't always as cushy as it sounds. The high-profile big wigs that have shows on Bravo, MSNBC and the like will undoubtedly be fine, of course, but the regular Joes and Media Guys of the world -- marketing pros who aren't sharks despite being able to put 'grizzled vet' and 'award winner' on their resume -- could be in for a rude awakening when they reach their European destinations.

This isn't groundbreaking news, obviously, but it's difficult for the average Media Joe (in this instance, yours truly) to imagine a U.S. ad man not being treated like royalty across the ocean blue. For those of us, I'm here in the nick of time to catch everyone up on the possible perils of pond crossing. Let's hop into the time machine shall we?

It was just a few years back. I was lithe and young, at least in mind and soul. Romania called. Literally the country called. The economic development minister guided me over to CSP UM Timişoara, an also-ran in the Romanian Futbol League. I was signed to a nice six-figure contract to lay out the marketing plan and roll it out to the country. When the AirFrance business class ticket arrived, little did I realize that caviar and filet mignon was the last luxury I would experience in my Chevy Chase-like European Vacation.

I arrived to what I thought was a nice location in the Bucharest City Centre at Heliade Intre VII and Doamna Ghica. Elevators broken, I dragged my bag up to my apartment. The $4,000 door gave way to a glorified utility closet, no more that 14x14 square feet with a Murphy bed and the shared bathroom down the hall. The busted television meant that the poster of Nicolae Ceauşescu and the "Guide to Transylvania" were my sole source of in-room entertainment. For this I left the bright lights of Hollywood and Los Angeles?

Part genius and part formula, I crafted a marketing plan in record time and received instant approval. The first two games drew incredible crowds and per cap spending for the patrons skyrocketed. That bonus clause in my contract was sure to kick in.

Here’s the rub though. I was never paid anything close to my contract signing and after weeks of complaining and threats of going home early with my Air France tickets, I did get a note -- famously scribbled and tacked to my apartment door -- saying that my first and only paycheck would be given to me at Herastrau Park at sundown. Although it had Lindbergh Kidnapping written all over it, I accepted the meeting, strictly following the directions and leaving my copy of Agentia de Investigatii Media on the stoop turned to page seven.

Despite Herastrau Park (aka Parcul Herastrau) being walking distance from my apartment, I opted on the cab ride with the large "wait-for-me-tip" to the driver who returned the favor by reminding me that "the park isn't as friendly as you might think.”

My meeting spot was scheduled under the Arcul de Triumf which is a replication of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe [note to self -- figure out why Romania needs a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and why the United States needed a replica of the Statue of Liberty]. I walked to the Arc down a long tree-lined driveway I couldn't help but get a chill as I viewed the grassy knoll. All I was missing was a book depository and a wife with a hat.

Yet I digress. This was my first clandestine meeting where I may or may not get paid, instead possibly winding up as dinner for the park fish. I waited an eternity in the 22 minutes it took to be greeted by Anders Prigoana. During our short time together I would learn he was the infamous go-between that delivered payments to contractors of the futbol team and the money people who hired "talent" at their whim.

Anders was a gracious bully and the absence of color in his wardrobe was the traditional attire for a meeting of this sort. Armed with cigars and stories, he informed me that the two-inch thick manila envelope he waved continually would be all they could afford to pay me. Quite frankly, he confided, the money train had dried up for his bosses. He also shared a story of my predecessor (just in case I wanted to escalate my desire to collect more of my worthless contract).

Herastrau Park in the 1990s.

His told me they found him in his trunk…five bullets in his head. The cool October air had kept his body from rotting. He knew he wouldn't have lasted long because he just couldn't keep his mouth closed; a little too hotheaded for his own good. All the while his bodyguards followed, making a solid wall of human flesh and muscle behind him.

He finally handed me the envelope and the now-paranoid Media Guy felt like all eyes were on him and knew that there was $7,000 in British pounds there. That was a big sum of money over there and Anders was clever when we told me that just about anyone would turn in their brother for only $500 pounds. When he turned to leave, I thought I'd caught a hint of a smile on his lips.

Time to bolt. I took off right back to the cab and straight to the hotel where I pushed the bureau so the door couldn't fly open. That was a long night in my Murphy bed room wondering who might be looking to snatch my cash. As soon as morning hit, I zipped to the bank and wired the money home. The next day I was tucked safely in my business class seat sipping on a vintage French wine paired with caviar and toast points.

My parting relief was the local newspaper headline, “Despite Record Crowds, CSP UM Timişoara Declares Bankruptcy”.

A trip of a lifetime – albeit a little lighter than I expected in my wallet – ended with a job well done.

MGS Chat: HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan

Inside the Palace, an Exclusive Talk with Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan.

Gaining some perspectives on palace life, women’s issues and more is as easy as spending a couple of hours with the princess. That is if you can stop her that long.

MEDIA GUY: Do you wear your crown in public?

PRINCESS SUMAYA: Not often. At the beginning of one trip, I managed to disappoint a little boy because I wasn’t wearing a crown, and I don’t believe he rightly thought I was a princess. He thought I should be like Sleeping Beauty [laughs]. That’s someone I would love to be like because by wearing a crown I don’t get much sleep. I am the mother of four children, a wife and a daughter. My day starts typically at 5 a.m., with managing the household and the usual mayhem when you are getting kids to school. It’s an attempt at a very typical family life.

MG: Is it possible to lead a normal life inside of a royal family?

PS: I think it is as normal as you make it. You can either want to live with frills and hold yourself in an ivory tower or you can be somebody who wants to get on and do it. This is how I am bringing up my children, and at the moment I am trying to find a creation or invention for the 48-hour day. I drop my kids at school and have to watch my daughter sing the national anthem, and then off to work. The children have violin lessons, tae kwon do and the swim team, so they don’t get home until nearly 5:30 p.m. Then the frenzy of homework, bath time and suppertime. My husband [Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s former Minister of Information] is away many evenings, and this is where I catch up on my work. The challenges of being a mother and getting my work done sort themselves out here.

MG: All of your duties: princess, head of the board of trustees at Princess Sumaya University for Technology and now heading the El Hassan Science City—do you do it out of a sense of duty or…?

PS: Everyone in my family has rallied around me on this and supported me, and I owe my sense of duty to my country to my father. We always grew up with the sense of serving our king and our country. It’s a passion for me as a daughter to realize a dream of my father to contribute as much as possible to the national development of Jordan. He spent his lifetime doing that, and I think I can harness his dreams under the one umbrella of El Hassan Science City and recognize it as a tribute to this great man.

MG: What is El Hassan Science City?

PS: El Hassan Science City will create a complete value-chain-based innovation ecosystem to solve high value problems for the Jordanian society while incubating Jordan’s next economy through greater value creation and value capture. This will also give Jordan and our entire region greater technology independence and hopefully bring peace through prosperity to the region. We will be able to harness clean energy from the sun, purify water for drinking and agriculture, and supply the basis for developing a knowledge-based economy.

MG: What about your personal technology. Are gadgets a favorite of yours?

PS: I have to be as modern as possible. We are tripping over Nintendo wires, and we hear “I’ve lost my PSP” and “Where is my iPod?” And then the nagging of “Please can we have a cell phone?” when they were at school. It was kind of sad because I had put my foot down and said the twins were not allowed to have a cell phone until they were 13. They were the only two kids in seventh grade without one, but their classmates arrived to their party with mobile phones for them.

MG: Help us gain some perspective on men and women in the Middle East and how women are treated.

PS: You are talking to a woman president of the leading applied scientific research institution in Jordan, who works there and isn’t just there as an honorary figure. I have a 14-person executive committee of which 5 are women. But we are just a few of the many in Jordan. You have women ambassadors, women senators, women members of parliament. We have equal rights for women in Jordan. The person who really spearheaded this was my grandmother Zein al-Sharaf. She got the first women’s movement started. From there, King Hussein supported women’s rights along with Queen Noor and now Queen Rania. 

            Of course, all of the women in my family have been tremendously supported by their husbands to work as well. My mother, who is not Jordanian by birth but is now by marriage, is committed to women’s issues and now heads the Young Muslim Women’s Association, which helps children with special needs. She was able to get the first community college especially devoted to women up and running. So with that goes the stereotypical image of suppressed women. I think in Jordan, we set ourselves as being very progressive when it comes to women. For other parts of the Middle East as well, all you have to do is look at some of the leaders and realize there are some very strong-willed women.

MG: As part of the board of trustees of the Jordan Museum, do you have a favorite piece of art?

PS: I can’t specifically say that there is a favorite piece, because probably the best museum in Jordan is Jordan itself. That is because we’ve come to describe Jordan is an open-air museum, and so the perfect piece is various sites around the country. Petra is an obvious choice, but another is Little Petra, which is the most special place for me.

MG: What’s the one thing you would like to do but can’t as a member of royalty?

PS: Go shopping without a little platoon following me and get on airplane and go wherever I want without having it all preplanned. I guess spontaneity is what I miss.

MG: What would the one place be?

PS: I’m not going to tell you because then people would follow me. I’ll send you a postcard when I get there [smiles].

Rockin' with The Champ and Miss USA

Okay, so where am I?

I'm in Las Vegas at Eva Longoria’s Eve Nightclub inside Crystals at CityCenter. I threw a one, two-punch this Fourth of July Weekend as I hung with hosts Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih and undefeated six-time World Champion boxer Floyd Mayweather and took over the glamorous club.

Eve Nightclub presented the ALO Hayati magazine party where guests enjoyed Femme Fatale Fridays alongside Fakih with DJ KrisCut and DJ Supra entertaining the crowd behind the turntables. Then, the knockout weekend continued with Floyd “Money” Mayweather joining the party.

Come a take a look...

Rima prepares for the big night

Miss USA 2010 with Miss Nevada

She says to call...and I will.

Thousands on hand to enjoy the night.

The champ, Floyd Mayweather with the queen

Criss Angel stopped by too.