Goodbye To Another Week - Hello To The Danes

Oh my, what a week. This was the first week we really got after it in the program. Opportunity recognition week. It was time to take all the theory and rhetoric that we'd been presented over the last couple of weeks and apply it to the host of ideas we all brought with us to this program to narrow down the list of things we would research and develop over the next 9 months. Now, the goal of the program is not that we all work together all the time, but that we continue to work in teams so that we are all familiar with one another for when we finally have selected our projects for the term and decide to build out a 'team' to complete them. While personally I enjoy everyone in the program, professionally the story is mixed. There is a huge difference between people that have worked in industry and those that have came straight from university life whether it be at a masters level or bachelors. I guess it's all part of the exercise.

So, since we signed non-disclosure agreements with one another I'm not able to go into specifics of the projects folks are looking at, but I can give a brief description of some observations and potential gaps in the current market place that I've witnessed that I'm focused on for some of the concepts I'm pitching.

- Global shortage of potable water supply.
- Housing and shelter solutions for short term needs in areas that suffer from demand bubbles.
- Increased desire for consumers to better understand their own purchasing habits.
- Creation of markets where there are inefficiencies in pricing or restrictions on participation.
- Aggregation of existing technologies to supply more meaningful data to consumers on demand.

Sometimes I wonder if I over think things. I mean think of the guy that made the first port o' potty. He simply recognized that people would rather go one/duce inside a shelter as opposed to dropping 'presents' in the alley behind the corner store. That sounds a hell of a lot simpler than 'creating a market to more efficiently price niche and unique circumstances'. Enough on that topic.

Moving on, it's vacation weekend. Thanks to Uncle Keith and his connections to some long lost cousins on the Danish island of Bornholm I'm headed there tomorrow evening after class. Here's the plan....

Class out 16:00
Bus leaves Lund City Center 16:23
Bus arrives Ystad Sweden 17:45
Ferry leaves Ystad Sweden 19:00
Ferry arrives Ronne Denmark 20:15 where I'll meet Kenn-Erik Grenander whose picking me up with an american flag in hand. Gotta love the Danish hospitality.

The big question is do I chance it and just wear my corduroys that may have a full crotch blowout at any point, or do I throw in a pair of jeans with a bit more lasting power. Oh hell, who am I kidding....we're family!! The jeans can stay in the dresser.