The strangest bit about writing a book is that you lose part of your soul…. It moves on and goes to live a separate life in the minds of your readers.

That’s how I felt on Wednesday night when Yang-May  and I launched International Communications Strategy at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business in the City of London.
Many years of work have gone into the book….. Many conversations in different parts of the world, many hours spent slipping into other people’s shoes trying to understand their ways of looking at the word and telling stories.  It was overwhelming to see it all coming together.

Yang-May and I were also overwhelmed by the number of friends and colleagues that attended our launch.
I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart Diane Morris (with us in the photo), the President of The International Alliance for Women, for all her support and for co-hosting the event. Many thanks also to Arnold Longboy and his team at Chicago Booth for hosting us at their superb venue. The event was catered by Café Spice Namaste. Many thanks to Cyrus, Pervin, Gina and their team for the wonderful food.

And of course thanks to Yang-May  for being who she is…. the best co-author in the world!

Mark Smith of Ipadio.com ran a live phoneblog of the launch. Click here  to listen to our presentation.

Photos: thanks to Nicola Stevens and Diane Morris

Deracinées. That’s what my co-author Yang-May and I were called in a recent review of our book.

The word has always intrigued me. But it was only recently, during a vacation in the mountains, that I was able to understand where my true roots lie.

It’s people that define them not geography.

On a gorgeous Saturday morning in August, I took a chairlift up the Dolomites to accompany my old friend Thomas and his friend Norbert on a mountain walk with a purpose.

For the past 20 years, Thomas and Norbert have been fighting greedy developers for the preservation of this unique section of the Alps. Recently, they used the internet to collect signatures from all over the world to prevent the construction of a sky resort in a particularly vulnerable part of these mountains.

Thomas and Norbert looked happy that morning. The Dolomites were about to be declared a United Nations World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The ceremony would take place in the Italian region of Friuli a week later.

While hiking up, I couldn’t stop observing Norbert. I remembered him vaguely from my days at Innsbruck University where the three of us studied. And I must admit, my recollection was more than vague due to what he calls “excessive partying”.

Norbert is a force of nature. His way of fighting for the environment feels strangely familiar. It is too similar to the nagging feeling I have had for years that if you believe in something, you have to stand up for it.

I guess this is the story of how I discovered one of my roots in someone I barely know and had not seen for years.

In case you were wondering…. Cross-cultural communication is to me what the Dolomites are to Norbert.

I will be thinking of him on Wednesday when Yang-May and I will present  International Communications Strategy in London.

My co-author Yang-May  and I look very happy in this picture.

Our book has been nominated for the Financial Times Goldman Sachs Awards!

I got the message the other week in San Francisco…first thing in the morning when I turned on my Blackberry. I was rushing …. I had to jump in the shower and almost forgot about it. But in the course of the day, the thought came back to my mind and began to sink in.

When Yang-May got the news, she remembered writing the book in her pyjamas early in the morning…

Awards and pyjamas are such a funny juxtaposition…

Yesterday, we gave a talk at the Institute of Directors together with Giles Colborne on Creating Value through Web 2.0 helped by panel chairman David Wootton.

Many of the questions we were asked dealt with the ROI of social media for small and medium-sized businesses. We used our blogs to provide examples for some of the answers.

I have been blogging on XCulture for over two years. It has been a fascinating journey. One that has taken me in many unexpected directions. The part I enjoyed most has been floating ideas for our book and observing the reactions of my readers.

Click here  to download our IOD presentation.

Yang-May and I have been working hard all week on the PR for our book which is coming out next month.

It’s already on the list of the Top Ten Social Media Books. We are thrilled!

And if you are a fan of one of us or both…. you can go to this site, scroll down to the bottom of the page and vote for International Communications Strategy. 

The official launch is set for early September and will be hosted in London by TIAW and The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

I am delighted that Emma Huang will be able to join us from Canada. Emma has been instrumental in helping me to understand the world of PR in China.