Jotting in the Gulf

The mood around Dubai seems rather damp these days… Perhaps it is due to the large amounts of rainfall we’ve experienced over the last week, leaving this city’s sun-lovers feeling a bit grey. After all, wasn’t it last Thursday that Dubai Eye Radio announced that this year we’ve had record rainfall—22mm in one day?! Or, maybe the city is quiet due to the holidays? This year UAE National Day, Eid al-Adha, Christmas and the Islamic New Year conveniently fall right in a row—a fortune that many expats have interpreted as an open invite to go home for the entire month of December. Speaking of which, New Yorkers and Virginians—I’ll be in town at the end of the month!

Regardless, I find myself struggling to make sense of the events that are going on around me in this city often characterized by lavish parties, awe-inspiring buildings and the reputation for being a place where one can earn a quick buck. Seth Godin points out in his book All Marketers Are Liars that anyone interested in marketing must understand the power of frames. He writes:

Frames aren’t just a tactic. Frames go to the heart of what marketing is today. If you’re unable to tack your idea onto a person’s worldview, then that idea will be ignored… A picture of Houston’s polluted waters and dead birds is just as accurate as one of Houston’s skyscrapers and busy shopping malls, but they tell very different stories to very different people…Frames are the words and images and interactions that reinforce a bias someone is already feeling (p. 41).

This begs the question, what am I feeling? How about those around me? Should we think of Dubai as the city that knows how to host one heck of a party—the $20 million grand opening of the Atlantis Resort last month was absolutely spectacular (think Beijing Olympic-style fireworks, movie stars galore, lavish dinners, loads of wine… in other words, totally FUN!). Or, is Dubai the place that of recent likes to call people “redundant?” As this Newsweek cover story points out, the same company that funded the Atlantis’s multimillion-dollar celebration, a couple weeks later announced that it was laying off 500 people. That company is not alone. Every other day I hear about another real estate or banking company letting people go.

I suppose things are never black and white, which makes understanding and narrating Dubai’s current economic story ever more of a challenge. Should I frame my version of this tale through the lenses of Gucci glasses, or should I stick to a more generic approach? Maybe I should try bifocals?

As I grapple to understand the character my version of Dubai will play in the current world economic downturn, I will leave you with a brief retelling of a recent night I had on the town…

On November 26th, 2008 I spent the evening playing Norah Jones hits, Autumn Leaves and various tango numbers under the stars. Surrounded by my fellow orchestra members, Dubai A-listers, magazine photographers and a fantastic jazz singer from France, we all gathered at the outdoor amphitheater of the One and Only Royal Mirage Hotel to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Boucheron—the luxury jewelry company, not the cheese. The evening could have been a scene out of the Middle East’s version of the Great Gatsby. While the orchestra played, Russian models strutted up and down the venue aisles wearing more diamonds around their necks than what is currently on display at Tiffany’s, New York. The French singer we accompanied must have hit a hundred seductive poses for the local paparazzi and the tango group that followed made sure to do nothing less than impress. When it came time for the president of Boucheron to give a speech, the amphitheater quieted and the cigar smoke cleared. He spoke briefly about passion and giving jewelry to those we love and then closed by suggesting that we use the event as an opportunity to diversify our investment portfolios by adding a few diamonds to the mix. At that moment, the audience paused with seeming unease—perhaps alluding to the state of the real estate markets and suggesting diamond retail therapy as the perfect solution to the situation was a bit uncouth?! Aware of the tension, or just keeping to schedule, the orchestra conductor quickly raised his baton to move the evening along—more song, more drinks and more dance.

The next morning I woke up to learn that while at Boucheron’s birthday party, terrorists had launched a vicious attack on some of Mumbai’s most celebrated venues—killing over 100 innocent bystanders. Upon arrival at the office my coworkers looked drained. Many are from Mumbai, and had spent the night alternating between watching the news in disbelief and calling loved ones to make sure they were safe. Saddened by the whole situation and feeling rather guilty for partying ignorantly the night before, I listened to my coworkers frame the evening’s events and tried to make sense of something that just seemed so senseless.

After talking for about an hour, one Indian coworker looked up and said, “Hey, in America, isn’t it Thanksgiving?” I responded—“Yes”—impressed that she thought to remember. We then launched into a discussion about how Thanksgiving is celebrated in the States and all agreed that Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays because its celebration transends the boundaries of race, religion and creed. Although we were sad, a discussion of what it means to be thankful lifted our spirits and helped us move forward with our day.
…

I don’t yet know what to make of the current world economic and geopolitical situation. The frame through which I see the events around me in Dubai and beyond is, to be honest, quite foggy. I suppose the best thing to do moving forward is to work hard, remain optimistic (yet grounded), spend and save thoughtfully and continue feeling the hope I wrote about in my last entry.

If I don’t speak to you before then, have a happy, healthy and hopefully prosperous new year!

Sincerely,
A

PS Eid Mubarak!

: : : :