2010 Turkey photo gallery
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Turkey Photo Gallery
The photos included in the blog posts below were just a small sample from what I shot on the trip. Here is a link to my complete photo gallery:
2010 Turkey photo gallery
2010 Turkey photo gallery
Friday, August 27, 2010
Day 12 - Tourism in Ankara
Our final full day in Turkey spanned both Ankara and Istanbul and we didn't have any business items so there was more opportunity to do some tourist things. Professors Toppel and Alpin had organized some stuff which was nice so that we didn't have to think and figure things out on our own for the last day.
Ataturk Mausoleum - This is a memorial tomb dedicated to the modern founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He is such a national hero to the people of Turkey and this monument reflects that. Picture George Washington multiplied by 100. The mausoleum was well done and they have military guards similar to those at Buckingham Palace in the UK (they don't move.) We did get the opportunity to see the changing of the guards. They are in different uniforms for the different branches of the military (Navy, Air Force, Army...)
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations - After the mausoleum we headed over to this museum for the rest of the afternoon before catching our flight back to Istanbul. This was definitely a cool and well designed museum with tons of ancient artifacts from the area. Probably most interesting though were the buildings the museum was in, which were build in 1471. The museum covers history from the Palaeolithic Age (8000 BC) through the Roman and Byzantine Period.
We were pretty much free to explore the museum at our own pace even though we did have a guide with us. But a few of us ventured outside to the courtyard, attracted by the sound of roaring fighter jets. Since Turkey's independence day was happening in 3 days, the military was preparing for the festivities. We saw hundreds of military personnel practicing their marches (many streets were closed and traffic was horrible), tanks, jeeps, and the Turkish equivalent of the Blue Angels. Military service is mandatory (18 months) for males in Turkey.
Later that day we took the bus to the Ankara airport, which was huge, new, and surprisingly empty. I'm guessing they built it for future capacity. The flight back to Istanbul was pretty uneventful except for one person arriving at the airport only to realize they'd left their passport back at the hotel. Somehow they were able to take a taxi back to the hotel and still make it on our flight. In Istanbul we were just staying at the Radisson Hotel by the airport on that last night since many of us had early flights back to the US the next morning.
After some confusion with the hotel shuttle, we finally made it there although some of the students gave up and took a taxi.
Neville, Harsha, Caroline and I had one final dinner at the hotel, which turned out to be one of the more expensive dinners on the trip. We were shocked at the prices, especially considering that their outdoor seating in the courtyard was directly in the flight path and the food was only so-so. We were all pretty sad that the trip was coming to an end. We ate and basically had an early night.
I felt like I bonded with the people on this trip in a way that just isn't possible when you're in a classroom setting. Even the people I've worked with on group projects as part of the MBA program don't feel as close as the people I travelled with for two weeks. I've often felt that the networking aspect of a part-time MBA program is one of the weaker parts (as compared to full time MBA programs) but between the LInC cohort and this study abroad trip I feel that I've built some lifelong friendships.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Ataturk Mausoleum - This is a memorial tomb dedicated to the modern founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He is such a national hero to the people of Turkey and this monument reflects that. Picture George Washington multiplied by 100. The mausoleum was well done and they have military guards similar to those at Buckingham Palace in the UK (they don't move.) We did get the opportunity to see the changing of the guards. They are in different uniforms for the different branches of the military (Navy, Air Force, Army...)
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations - After the mausoleum we headed over to this museum for the rest of the afternoon before catching our flight back to Istanbul. This was definitely a cool and well designed museum with tons of ancient artifacts from the area. Probably most interesting though were the buildings the museum was in, which were build in 1471. The museum covers history from the Palaeolithic Age (8000 BC) through the Roman and Byzantine Period.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
We were pretty much free to explore the museum at our own pace even though we did have a guide with us. But a few of us ventured outside to the courtyard, attracted by the sound of roaring fighter jets. Since Turkey's independence day was happening in 3 days, the military was preparing for the festivities. We saw hundreds of military personnel practicing their marches (many streets were closed and traffic was horrible), tanks, jeeps, and the Turkish equivalent of the Blue Angels. Military service is mandatory (18 months) for males in Turkey.
Later that day we took the bus to the Ankara airport, which was huge, new, and surprisingly empty. I'm guessing they built it for future capacity. The flight back to Istanbul was pretty uneventful except for one person arriving at the airport only to realize they'd left their passport back at the hotel. Somehow they were able to take a taxi back to the hotel and still make it on our flight. In Istanbul we were just staying at the Radisson Hotel by the airport on that last night since many of us had early flights back to the US the next morning.
After some confusion with the hotel shuttle, we finally made it there although some of the students gave up and took a taxi.
Neville, Harsha, Caroline and I had one final dinner at the hotel, which turned out to be one of the more expensive dinners on the trip. We were shocked at the prices, especially considering that their outdoor seating in the courtyard was directly in the flight path and the food was only so-so. We were all pretty sad that the trip was coming to an end. We ate and basically had an early night.
I felt like I bonded with the people on this trip in a way that just isn't possible when you're in a classroom setting. Even the people I've worked with on group projects as part of the MBA program don't feel as close as the people I travelled with for two weeks. I've often felt that the networking aspect of a part-time MBA program is one of the weaker parts (as compared to full time MBA programs) but between the LInC cohort and this study abroad trip I feel that I've built some lifelong friendships.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Day 11 - Stopping by the US Embassy
This was our first full day in Ankara and we had two visits on the agenda: Lockheed and the US Embassy.
Lockheed has a tiny office of about five people in Turkey, in fact, they decided we should meet at the Hilton Hotel in order to accommodate 26 MBA students. One of our classmates works for Lockheed in the US, so we had a good connection and rapport with the folks presenting.
The Lockheed presentation covered the political climate in Turkey but I was more interested to learn about their products. The F16 was first produced in Turkey in 1978 and Lockheed continues to see a big future in Turkey. Turkey has a strong military (when you border 9 different countries, that's probably a good idea) and buys a fair number of products from Lockheed. Of course this business has a long sales cycle, often 5 years or more. Another interesting tidbit was that the planes Lockheed sells to other countries (these sales must be approved by Congress) actually are not quite the same as the planes Lockheed sells to the US military. Again, probably a wise business practice when selling weapons (save the best for yourself)! There have been some changes in the access Lockheed sales folks have to generals and the various government decision makers that makes it more difficult for them to secure sales in this relationship driven culture.
I was bummed to find out that their cheapest product is around $50 million, although they did promise to include free shipping.
The US Embassy was interesting mainly because I'd never been to an embassy in a foreign country. Security was tight and we had to go through in groups of only five people at a time. We couldn't bring in any electronics; no phones, no cameras, nothing. During our visit we spoke with folks from the political department, the commerce department, the department of agriculture (USDA), and the commercial services department. We covered a whole bunch of topics, including many we'd already discussed on our trip, but it was cool to get the perspective from Americans living in Turkey. In general, their jobs seemed like they involved writing a bunch of reports...which sounds sort of boring but everyone we spoke to really seemed to love their jobs. (Incidentally, someone from our group confirmed that these foreign service jobs are pretty tough to get.) Basically, they said their job is to "add value on top of the stuff you see on CNN."
On a side note, our visit to the US Embassy was typically American and they were the only place we visited that didn't offer us Turkish tea or water. (And I assume they weren't observing Ramadan.)
We had some down time in the afternoon so I went off on my own in search of postcards. Ankara must not be very touristy (or at least the part we were in) because I walked for blocks and never found any.
That evening we had an organized dinner at the Washington Restaurant with the folks from Lockheed. It was a good meal and I was fortunate to be seated across from Marty who always keeps things entertaining.
Based on the recommendation from the Lockheed folks we walked down to a pub for a few beers but ultimately migrated to a bar called the Fat Cat almost right behind our hotel. Since it was really our last night together as a group, nearly everyone came out and we had a pretty big night. One interesting tidbit from the bar was that we were able to negotiate our massive bar tab when it came time to pay. Granted, we were pretty much the only ones in the bar, but we did drink a lot and I don't think you'd be able to haggle on the price at a bar in the US.
Lockheed has a tiny office of about five people in Turkey, in fact, they decided we should meet at the Hilton Hotel in order to accommodate 26 MBA students. One of our classmates works for Lockheed in the US, so we had a good connection and rapport with the folks presenting.
The Lockheed presentation covered the political climate in Turkey but I was more interested to learn about their products. The F16 was first produced in Turkey in 1978 and Lockheed continues to see a big future in Turkey. Turkey has a strong military (when you border 9 different countries, that's probably a good idea) and buys a fair number of products from Lockheed. Of course this business has a long sales cycle, often 5 years or more. Another interesting tidbit was that the planes Lockheed sells to other countries (these sales must be approved by Congress) actually are not quite the same as the planes Lockheed sells to the US military. Again, probably a wise business practice when selling weapons (save the best for yourself)! There have been some changes in the access Lockheed sales folks have to generals and the various government decision makers that makes it more difficult for them to secure sales in this relationship driven culture.
I was bummed to find out that their cheapest product is around $50 million, although they did promise to include free shipping.
The US Embassy was interesting mainly because I'd never been to an embassy in a foreign country. Security was tight and we had to go through in groups of only five people at a time. We couldn't bring in any electronics; no phones, no cameras, nothing. During our visit we spoke with folks from the political department, the commerce department, the department of agriculture (USDA), and the commercial services department. We covered a whole bunch of topics, including many we'd already discussed on our trip, but it was cool to get the perspective from Americans living in Turkey. In general, their jobs seemed like they involved writing a bunch of reports...which sounds sort of boring but everyone we spoke to really seemed to love their jobs. (Incidentally, someone from our group confirmed that these foreign service jobs are pretty tough to get.) Basically, they said their job is to "add value on top of the stuff you see on CNN."
On a side note, our visit to the US Embassy was typically American and they were the only place we visited that didn't offer us Turkish tea or water. (And I assume they weren't observing Ramadan.)
We had some down time in the afternoon so I went off on my own in search of postcards. Ankara must not be very touristy (or at least the part we were in) because I walked for blocks and never found any.
That evening we had an organized dinner at the Washington Restaurant with the folks from Lockheed. It was a good meal and I was fortunate to be seated across from Marty who always keeps things entertaining.
Based on the recommendation from the Lockheed folks we walked down to a pub for a few beers but ultimately migrated to a bar called the Fat Cat almost right behind our hotel. Since it was really our last night together as a group, nearly everyone came out and we had a pretty big night. One interesting tidbit from the bar was that we were able to negotiate our massive bar tab when it came time to pay. Granted, we were pretty much the only ones in the bar, but we did drink a lot and I don't think you'd be able to haggle on the price at a bar in the US.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Day 10 - Off to Ankara
Wednesday morning we reunited with our hosts from Duzce University and visited Standard Profil, a company that makes weather stripping seals for cars. Even though I'm a huge gearhead, I'd never given much thought to the seals around the windows, doors, and trunk so I was surprised to see this one component of a vehicle was such a massive operation. We had a chance to tour their factory where we saw raw rubber material being made into seals for a variety of modern cars from GM, Fiat, VW, Porsche, etc. It's a little odd that the region is known for agriculture, yet there is this large manufacturing plant here. It was cool to learn that they produce all their own electricity and heat at the plant using cogeneration (burning natural gas in essentially a gas turbine engine to create electricity and heat as a by-product.)
Standard Profil has been around since 1977 and is a leader in their industry. They made a smart move a few years ago and applied the diversification practices used in investing to their customers. Previously, GM was their largest customer, but now they get approximately equal business from VW, GM, Renault, and Fiat. Given GM's bankruptcy, this was a wise move and showed good management. Standard Profil is focused on their customers...they have a specific niche and they do that job well rather than trying to expand into many different parts of automobile manufacturing. When asked how they get feedback for improving their products, they indicated it was mostly from the OEMs who aggregate customer feedback and share it with their suppliers.
We left the factory and headed to a meeting with the Duzce Governor and Mayor. Given our past meeting with the governor of another small town, I expected this would be similarly "quaint". But when we arrived, it was a full-on press conference with journalists and cameras! I guess a group of MBA students from Silicon Valley meeting with the Governor is a pretty big deal. It was a very formal event, including the proper seating positions. I ended up being seated right next to the dean of Duzce University, who also served as a translator for the event. As expected, the entire visit was published in the local paper the following day. You can find the article here. (Notice me sitting taking notes in the second picture.)
Even though it was Ramadan, the Governor offered us juice and chocolates but not until after his assistant had gone around with lemon hand sanitizer to everyone in the room. Since we were sitting in his office, seating 26 of us was a little awkward but we made it work. The office was very new and nicely decorated. The Governor and Mayor answered a lot of questions and shared their insights with us. Some of the key topics were:
- Priorities for the region: Education, proper development of industrialization, addressing needs of the young generation.
- Common characteristics of successful business leaders in the region: Willingness to accept and take risk, courageous, keep track of world events, competent in analyzing how their business fits in.
- View of the US: Friends, important for the US to have friendly Islamic countries like Turkey, government style in the US is similar to the Ottoman Empire, people in the US don't have the correct view of what's happening in the world, the US isn't a different world -- it's part of the world.
I also came away with an appreciation for how the Turkish government functions. They have this local and central government (similar to our local and federal) but I think it's better in some ways. For example, the governor is appointed by the central government for a term of 5 years (for that specific region) while the mayor is elected by the people. They work together and there really is no hierarchy between them. One of the benefits of this is that the governor can make some less popular, but needed, decisions without worrying about being re-elected.
After the governor's office (where we again received nice gifts!) we proceeded to the Duzce Art (vocational) school to see some of the local craftspeople working. They were doing a bunch of activities such as painting plates, making jewelry, and creating what I called "oil and vinegar art". All the MBA students had a chance to do some of this too and the oil and vinegar art was by far the most popular. Basically, you had a tray of water and into this tray you splattered some different colored paints. Then you could use various tools to swirl them around or make interesting designs, but it was still entirely liquid even though they didn't mix together. Once you had a design you liked, you simply laid a piece of paper on top of the liquid and the color and "image" was transferred over. Pretty cool!
We had a few minutes to kill after the art school and luckily there was an outdoor bazar happening nearby. This gave us the opportunity to see how the locals shopped since the grand bazar back in Istanbul is very touristy. It was sort of like a farmers market in the sense that there was a lot of fresh food sold (including some tasty, salted string cheese stuff) but there were also staples like cleaning products, clothing, and bathroom supplies. Unlike in Istanbul, probably 98% of the women I saw at the bazar wore headscarves.
We ate lunch at the Berceste Restaurant which was OK but I didn't think it was amazing. They did have good baklava for dessert though!
After lunch we piled back into the bus for the long drive to Ankara, Turkey's capital. We arrived at the Rixos Hotel which is super trendy even though the customer service was less than stellar. They had metal detectors at the front door and the security guys in front of the hotel used mirrors to check for bombs under every car that pulled up. I'm not sure if this is standard but we later found out the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan was staying there at the same time so they might have had increased security. Most of the folks in the hotel lobby were in business suits so as MBA students we felt a bit under-dressed.
The hotel rooms were by far the fanciest we stayed in during the trip. When you put your key into the light switch, the whole room came to life including the curtains which were motorized and programed to open when you entered the room. The photos below can explain the modern style of the room better than I can.
For dinner we met up with a Turkish friend of Andrea's who had lived in San Francisco for three years. It was great to have a local guide us and take us out for dinner. We drove about 20 minutes from the hotel to a part of Ankara that felt modern and posh, sort of like Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. The restaurants and bars were trendy and there were nice Porsches, Mercedes, and BMWs parked out front. Something that was particularly cool, but would never work in the US, is that when we arrived our host Cem spoke to the taxi driver and of course we asked how much we owed. He replied telling us nothing...that we'd pay the driver after he comes back to get us after dinner. What? Really? They exchanged cell phone numbers and off the taxi went. Sure enough, when we called him later he came back for us.
At dinner Cem asked "Do you trust me to do the ordering?" and of course we said yes so he got us an awesome spread of amazing food. The most interesting thing was a raw lamb dish in lettuce wraps. The lamb was heavily spiced and ground up. Even though it sounded gross it was actually very good.
Cem is obviously pretty well connected since he pulled some strings to get Andrea a room upgrade at the hotel and managed to get a few free rounds of drinks at the bar after dinner. This is also part of the Turkish culture. They're very relationship driven and you go out of your way to help out friends, as he was doing for us. This is something I'd like to adopt when I get back home. I feel like our lives are often so busy that you don't go out of the way to help people or even to really engage with people.
After dinner we headed across the road to a bar where once again we were able to sit outdoors in the warm climate. We proceeded to have a few more drinks, include the findik (pronounced 'fun dick'!) shots which are some type of hazelnut liquor (hazelnuts are a big part of the agriculture business in Turkey.) This was another one of the most fun nights I had on the trip.
Standard Profil has been around since 1977 and is a leader in their industry. They made a smart move a few years ago and applied the diversification practices used in investing to their customers. Previously, GM was their largest customer, but now they get approximately equal business from VW, GM, Renault, and Fiat. Given GM's bankruptcy, this was a wise move and showed good management. Standard Profil is focused on their customers...they have a specific niche and they do that job well rather than trying to expand into many different parts of automobile manufacturing. When asked how they get feedback for improving their products, they indicated it was mostly from the OEMs who aggregate customer feedback and share it with their suppliers.
We left the factory and headed to a meeting with the Duzce Governor and Mayor. Given our past meeting with the governor of another small town, I expected this would be similarly "quaint". But when we arrived, it was a full-on press conference with journalists and cameras! I guess a group of MBA students from Silicon Valley meeting with the Governor is a pretty big deal. It was a very formal event, including the proper seating positions. I ended up being seated right next to the dean of Duzce University, who also served as a translator for the event. As expected, the entire visit was published in the local paper the following day. You can find the article here. (Notice me sitting taking notes in the second picture.)
Even though it was Ramadan, the Governor offered us juice and chocolates but not until after his assistant had gone around with lemon hand sanitizer to everyone in the room. Since we were sitting in his office, seating 26 of us was a little awkward but we made it work. The office was very new and nicely decorated. The Governor and Mayor answered a lot of questions and shared their insights with us. Some of the key topics were:
- Priorities for the region: Education, proper development of industrialization, addressing needs of the young generation.
- Common characteristics of successful business leaders in the region: Willingness to accept and take risk, courageous, keep track of world events, competent in analyzing how their business fits in.
- View of the US: Friends, important for the US to have friendly Islamic countries like Turkey, government style in the US is similar to the Ottoman Empire, people in the US don't have the correct view of what's happening in the world, the US isn't a different world -- it's part of the world.
I also came away with an appreciation for how the Turkish government functions. They have this local and central government (similar to our local and federal) but I think it's better in some ways. For example, the governor is appointed by the central government for a term of 5 years (for that specific region) while the mayor is elected by the people. They work together and there really is no hierarchy between them. One of the benefits of this is that the governor can make some less popular, but needed, decisions without worrying about being re-elected.
After the governor's office (where we again received nice gifts!) we proceeded to the Duzce Art (vocational) school to see some of the local craftspeople working. They were doing a bunch of activities such as painting plates, making jewelry, and creating what I called "oil and vinegar art". All the MBA students had a chance to do some of this too and the oil and vinegar art was by far the most popular. Basically, you had a tray of water and into this tray you splattered some different colored paints. Then you could use various tools to swirl them around or make interesting designs, but it was still entirely liquid even though they didn't mix together. Once you had a design you liked, you simply laid a piece of paper on top of the liquid and the color and "image" was transferred over. Pretty cool!
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
We had a few minutes to kill after the art school and luckily there was an outdoor bazar happening nearby. This gave us the opportunity to see how the locals shopped since the grand bazar back in Istanbul is very touristy. It was sort of like a farmers market in the sense that there was a lot of fresh food sold (including some tasty, salted string cheese stuff) but there were also staples like cleaning products, clothing, and bathroom supplies. Unlike in Istanbul, probably 98% of the women I saw at the bazar wore headscarves.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
We ate lunch at the Berceste Restaurant which was OK but I didn't think it was amazing. They did have good baklava for dessert though!
After lunch we piled back into the bus for the long drive to Ankara, Turkey's capital. We arrived at the Rixos Hotel which is super trendy even though the customer service was less than stellar. They had metal detectors at the front door and the security guys in front of the hotel used mirrors to check for bombs under every car that pulled up. I'm not sure if this is standard but we later found out the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan was staying there at the same time so they might have had increased security. Most of the folks in the hotel lobby were in business suits so as MBA students we felt a bit under-dressed.
The hotel rooms were by far the fanciest we stayed in during the trip. When you put your key into the light switch, the whole room came to life including the curtains which were motorized and programed to open when you entered the room. The photos below can explain the modern style of the room better than I can.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
For dinner we met up with a Turkish friend of Andrea's who had lived in San Francisco for three years. It was great to have a local guide us and take us out for dinner. We drove about 20 minutes from the hotel to a part of Ankara that felt modern and posh, sort of like Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. The restaurants and bars were trendy and there were nice Porsches, Mercedes, and BMWs parked out front. Something that was particularly cool, but would never work in the US, is that when we arrived our host Cem spoke to the taxi driver and of course we asked how much we owed. He replied telling us nothing...that we'd pay the driver after he comes back to get us after dinner. What? Really? They exchanged cell phone numbers and off the taxi went. Sure enough, when we called him later he came back for us.
At dinner Cem asked "Do you trust me to do the ordering?" and of course we said yes so he got us an awesome spread of amazing food. The most interesting thing was a raw lamb dish in lettuce wraps. The lamb was heavily spiced and ground up. Even though it sounded gross it was actually very good.
Cem is obviously pretty well connected since he pulled some strings to get Andrea a room upgrade at the hotel and managed to get a few free rounds of drinks at the bar after dinner. This is also part of the Turkish culture. They're very relationship driven and you go out of your way to help out friends, as he was doing for us. This is something I'd like to adopt when I get back home. I feel like our lives are often so busy that you don't go out of the way to help people or even to really engage with people.
After dinner we headed across the road to a bar where once again we were able to sit outdoors in the warm climate. We proceeded to have a few more drinks, include the findik (pronounced 'fun dick'!) shots which are some type of hazelnut liquor (hazelnuts are a big part of the agriculture business in Turkey.) This was another one of the most fun nights I had on the trip.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Day 9 - Duzce University
Tuesday was a pretty long day of riding the bus as we headed out to Duzce University, which is about 3 hours away from Istanbul. We had a huge bus for our 26 people so basically everyone got their own row of seats which made things more comfortable. But I was sad to leave Istanbul and the Point Hotel which had begun to feel familiar.
On the way to the university we had a planned lunch stop sort of in the middle of nowhere but which turned out to be one of the best meals I had in Turkey. Since it was still Ramadan and this part of the country is much more religious than Istanbul, our group was literally the only people in the restaurant. Aside from the great food, another memorable moment was crashing the bus. The road to the restaurant had this archway we had to drive under and even though the bus driver got out and checked, we still didn't fit. Whoops!
After lunch we continued to the university, which is almost brand new (built in 2006) and focused on agriculture (think UC Davis). The first stop was the Herbarium which is like a plant museum. Next, we went to the main auditorium where we were welcomed with open arms. I'd heard about Turkish hospitality, but this was completely overboard. I think it helped that one of our professors, Linda Alpin, was friends with the president of Duzce University, Funda Serifoglu. They welcomed us and had each of us introduce ourselves to the small audience. It was quite a cermony including the exchange of gifts between the professors (and later gifts were given to all of us as well.)
Then we a short coffee break afterwards where we met two Turkish English instructors who I think enjoyed practicing their english with us. Next, we piled back into the bus for an adventurous drive down some twisty mountain roads to a 200 year old mosque out in the middle of nowhere. I was surprised our bus could even make it down some of these streets. While out in this rural mountain area, we once again saw the other side of Turkey...people living basic lives near poverty. But chatting with the folks at the mosque they actually seemed happier than most Americans I know, despite not having much.
We made a pit stop back in town to check out an old Roman theatre from about 800 BC. Our hosts served ice cream sandwiches which were a welcome relief from the mid-day heat. And we must have been quite a sight for the local kids in town as it seemed like a bunch of them came to check us out. We also went to a history museum that covered the local history dating back to some 2000 BC. America is such a young little baby by comparison.
View Larger Map
Once back in the bus, we hit the road headed to our final stop for the night -- Akcakoza on the Black Sea. A buffet dinner at the hotel and overlooking the water was waiting for us when we arrived. Akcakoza is a pretty small town, but at least it did have a city center part and a fair number of buildings. After dinner a few of us went to the hotel pool and ventured into the Black Sea early the next morning. It's hard to believe that Russia is just across the water. During breakfast the next day (again looking over the sea) we saw a couple of dolphins just off the coast. This hotel (Diapolis) is in a great location but the rooms are a bit dated even though they're huge (in fact there were two separate rooms in each room.)
But I appreciated getting to see some parts of Turkey outside of Istanbul especially because things are vastly different once outside of the big city.
On the way to the university we had a planned lunch stop sort of in the middle of nowhere but which turned out to be one of the best meals I had in Turkey. Since it was still Ramadan and this part of the country is much more religious than Istanbul, our group was literally the only people in the restaurant. Aside from the great food, another memorable moment was crashing the bus. The road to the restaurant had this archway we had to drive under and even though the bus driver got out and checked, we still didn't fit. Whoops!
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
After lunch we continued to the university, which is almost brand new (built in 2006) and focused on agriculture (think UC Davis). The first stop was the Herbarium which is like a plant museum. Next, we went to the main auditorium where we were welcomed with open arms. I'd heard about Turkish hospitality, but this was completely overboard. I think it helped that one of our professors, Linda Alpin, was friends with the president of Duzce University, Funda Serifoglu. They welcomed us and had each of us introduce ourselves to the small audience. It was quite a cermony including the exchange of gifts between the professors (and later gifts were given to all of us as well.)
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Then we a short coffee break afterwards where we met two Turkish English instructors who I think enjoyed practicing their english with us. Next, we piled back into the bus for an adventurous drive down some twisty mountain roads to a 200 year old mosque out in the middle of nowhere. I was surprised our bus could even make it down some of these streets. While out in this rural mountain area, we once again saw the other side of Turkey...people living basic lives near poverty. But chatting with the folks at the mosque they actually seemed happier than most Americans I know, despite not having much.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
We made a pit stop back in town to check out an old Roman theatre from about 800 BC. Our hosts served ice cream sandwiches which were a welcome relief from the mid-day heat. And we must have been quite a sight for the local kids in town as it seemed like a bunch of them came to check us out. We also went to a history museum that covered the local history dating back to some 2000 BC. America is such a young little baby by comparison.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
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| From 2010 Turkey |
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| From 2010 Turkey |
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| From 2010 Turkey |
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| From 2010 Turkey |
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| From 2010 Turkey |
View Larger Map
Once back in the bus, we hit the road headed to our final stop for the night -- Akcakoza on the Black Sea. A buffet dinner at the hotel and overlooking the water was waiting for us when we arrived. Akcakoza is a pretty small town, but at least it did have a city center part and a fair number of buildings. After dinner a few of us went to the hotel pool and ventured into the Black Sea early the next morning. It's hard to believe that Russia is just across the water. During breakfast the next day (again looking over the sea) we saw a couple of dolphins just off the coast. This hotel (Diapolis) is in a great location but the rooms are a bit dated even though they're huge (in fact there were two separate rooms in each room.)
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| From 2010 Turkey |
But I appreciated getting to see some parts of Turkey outside of Istanbul especially because things are vastly different once outside of the big city.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Istanbul Day 8 - Back to work
Today turned out to be pretty interesting with visits to Hurriyet Daily News (an English newspaper), Eczacibasi Group (another holding company), and Turk Telcom.
We started with the newspaper, where we all crammed into their tiny conference room. The building itself was nice and writers worked in an open floorplan of long desks with many computers in a row. This is similar to the setup I recall in the Google Dublin office and I assume it's typical of European companies. The discussion quickly turned to politics, even though I was more interested in the business of running a newspaper in Turkey. However, the editor offered an interesting framework for the news. He feels like are the five "stories" being told in one form or another in Turkey. These are:
1) The Armenian Genocide
2) Islam vs. Secularism
3) Honor killings
4) Status of women in Turkey
5) Freedom of expression in Turkey
Google any of those terms in order to find out more about them.
He also mentioned that he likes to hire writers to cover topics about their own culture. He doesn't want to hire a Canadian to come write about the Kurds, he wants a Kurd to write about the Kurdish conflict. I think this is a pretty good approach. He said they are more familiar with the issue and write with more passion, yet through the editorial process he can ensure they are presenting a balanced viewpoint. Seems like good management to me.
Censorship is an issue in the Turkish media, and especially self-censorship. One issue is that there are very few public records. For example, you can't just walk into the records office and say "I'd like a list of all the property owned by so-and-so."
From a business perspective, advertising isn't very mature in Turkey yet. The biggest advertisers are P&G and Turkcell. As a result, his paper lost $2 million last year. I guess newspapers are struggling worldwide for readership. He felt that his paper won't exist in a paper format 5 years from now and I'd guess that this has to do with Turkey's young population and their willingness to embrace new technology. (Most Turks are under 35.) This is also why Garanti Bank has been so successful launching new products and features.
Eczacibasi was another great visit and they welcomed us with open arms. Their building is amazingly beautiful, just like the design of their bathroom products (sinks, faucets, etc.) They had quite a spread of snacks and beverages in their 21st story conference room with panoramic views of Istanbul. In general, the company felt much more "modern" than the other holding company we visited, the Dogan Group. The main difference I noticed was that with Eczacibasi you could actually see the synergy between the companies they owned whereas Dogan felt like a random hodge-podge of companies.
They have a ton of joint ventures and this is a good way for foreign companies to enter the Turkish market. Many are 50/50, which is a bit unusual but the business development manager who gave the presentation said they work quite well. Many are with German and American companies, so they know these cultures and how to do business with them. Sinan (biz dev manager) indicated that Russia would be the next country they probably do big JVs with.
The question of innovation came up again and they take innovation very seriously. In fact, they have a direct report to the CEO who is a sort of innovation coordinator -- this seems like something I'd like to do! Similar to other organizations, they have a system where employees can submit ideas and be rewarded for those that result in products. They also have an annual "Innovation Day" where they update everyone in the company on innovations submitted by employees.
When I asked about the biggest cultural challenge working with Americans, Sinan said it was distance and a lack of knowledge. Basically, American's don't do their homework on Turkey and have a lot of misconceptions. Many don't do their market research. And they don't know the story of Turkey. On a side note, I think you have to be an ex-supermodel in order to work here if you're a woman (judging by the employees we met).
Our next stop was Turk Telcom. We met with one of their VPs who previously spent 16 years in the US, some of that time working at Yahoo!. They are the #1 DSL provider in Turkey and have 6M customers (abouot 92% market share). They also deliver landline telephone service.
Turk Telcom was government owned until about 2005 and the Turkish goverment is still a major shareholder. It's weird to think that they're a 168 year old company...you don't find many of those in America. Lately though, they've been shifting their strategy to actually deliver what customers want, which didn't matter in the past because they had a monopoly and customer had to accept whatever they delivered.
We started with the newspaper, where we all crammed into their tiny conference room. The building itself was nice and writers worked in an open floorplan of long desks with many computers in a row. This is similar to the setup I recall in the Google Dublin office and I assume it's typical of European companies. The discussion quickly turned to politics, even though I was more interested in the business of running a newspaper in Turkey. However, the editor offered an interesting framework for the news. He feels like are the five "stories" being told in one form or another in Turkey. These are:
1) The Armenian Genocide
2) Islam vs. Secularism
3) Honor killings
4) Status of women in Turkey
5) Freedom of expression in Turkey
Google any of those terms in order to find out more about them.
He also mentioned that he likes to hire writers to cover topics about their own culture. He doesn't want to hire a Canadian to come write about the Kurds, he wants a Kurd to write about the Kurdish conflict. I think this is a pretty good approach. He said they are more familiar with the issue and write with more passion, yet through the editorial process he can ensure they are presenting a balanced viewpoint. Seems like good management to me.
Censorship is an issue in the Turkish media, and especially self-censorship. One issue is that there are very few public records. For example, you can't just walk into the records office and say "I'd like a list of all the property owned by so-and-so."
From a business perspective, advertising isn't very mature in Turkey yet. The biggest advertisers are P&G and Turkcell. As a result, his paper lost $2 million last year. I guess newspapers are struggling worldwide for readership. He felt that his paper won't exist in a paper format 5 years from now and I'd guess that this has to do with Turkey's young population and their willingness to embrace new technology. (Most Turks are under 35.) This is also why Garanti Bank has been so successful launching new products and features.
Eczacibasi was another great visit and they welcomed us with open arms. Their building is amazingly beautiful, just like the design of their bathroom products (sinks, faucets, etc.) They had quite a spread of snacks and beverages in their 21st story conference room with panoramic views of Istanbul. In general, the company felt much more "modern" than the other holding company we visited, the Dogan Group. The main difference I noticed was that with Eczacibasi you could actually see the synergy between the companies they owned whereas Dogan felt like a random hodge-podge of companies.
They have a ton of joint ventures and this is a good way for foreign companies to enter the Turkish market. Many are 50/50, which is a bit unusual but the business development manager who gave the presentation said they work quite well. Many are with German and American companies, so they know these cultures and how to do business with them. Sinan (biz dev manager) indicated that Russia would be the next country they probably do big JVs with.
The question of innovation came up again and they take innovation very seriously. In fact, they have a direct report to the CEO who is a sort of innovation coordinator -- this seems like something I'd like to do! Similar to other organizations, they have a system where employees can submit ideas and be rewarded for those that result in products. They also have an annual "Innovation Day" where they update everyone in the company on innovations submitted by employees.
When I asked about the biggest cultural challenge working with Americans, Sinan said it was distance and a lack of knowledge. Basically, American's don't do their homework on Turkey and have a lot of misconceptions. Many don't do their market research. And they don't know the story of Turkey. On a side note, I think you have to be an ex-supermodel in order to work here if you're a woman (judging by the employees we met).
Our next stop was Turk Telcom. We met with one of their VPs who previously spent 16 years in the US, some of that time working at Yahoo!. They are the #1 DSL provider in Turkey and have 6M customers (abouot 92% market share). They also deliver landline telephone service.
Turk Telcom was government owned until about 2005 and the Turkish goverment is still a major shareholder. It's weird to think that they're a 168 year old company...you don't find many of those in America. Lately though, they've been shifting their strategy to actually deliver what customers want, which didn't matter in the past because they had a monopoly and customer had to accept whatever they delivered.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Day 7 - Prince's Islands
Today we took the ferry out to the Prince's Islands and spent the day there.
Justin and Harsha were moving a bit slowly from their previous night's activities and neither were able to make it to the hotel breakfast. But I knew they'd regret missing our trip to the islands so after breakfast we coaxed them into consciousness and out the door. How these guys made it through the day is beyond me, but commendable.
The ferry is unbelievably cheap (only 3 TRL, about $2 USD). If they were this cheap in the bay area I think more people would use them and commute this way. The ride to the island took about an hour and a half and they serve all kinds of snacks and stuff on the boat, including typical Turkish tea. We chatted with some tourists from Belgium who gave us tips on which stop to get off at since we hadn't really planned ahead and researched anything.
The island has a bunch of nice mansions on it that serve as vacation homes. But many of them were in surprising states of disrepair and some appeared to have been abandoned for years. The architectural style was also unique...mostly colonial I think? It sort of felt like a wild west ghost town in some sections. Of course there was a bustling little downtown area with lots of shops and tons of places selling ice cream.
There are no cars on the island except for police vehicles (and maybe 1 or 2 delivery trucks) so it's pretty quiet. But there are a ton of horse-drawn carriages. We opted to walk around though and get some exercise, ultimately hiking to the highest point on the island and being rewarded with breathtaking views and a cold beer. Thanks go to Justin for encouraging the trek up there despite the heat.
We ended up taking one of the carriages back to the ferry so that we could make it in time and then just grabbed a quick bite to each at a local place back in Taksim.
Overall, totally an awesome day. It was a bit of an adventure since we didn't know what to expect and it turned out great. It made me realize that I don't take enough time to do this sort of stuff when I'm at home. Justin recommended doing a similar hike and ferry ride to Angel Island so I'm adding that to my "to do" list when I get back to San Francisco.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Justin and Harsha were moving a bit slowly from their previous night's activities and neither were able to make it to the hotel breakfast. But I knew they'd regret missing our trip to the islands so after breakfast we coaxed them into consciousness and out the door. How these guys made it through the day is beyond me, but commendable.
The ferry is unbelievably cheap (only 3 TRL, about $2 USD). If they were this cheap in the bay area I think more people would use them and commute this way. The ride to the island took about an hour and a half and they serve all kinds of snacks and stuff on the boat, including typical Turkish tea. We chatted with some tourists from Belgium who gave us tips on which stop to get off at since we hadn't really planned ahead and researched anything.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
The island has a bunch of nice mansions on it that serve as vacation homes. But many of them were in surprising states of disrepair and some appeared to have been abandoned for years. The architectural style was also unique...mostly colonial I think? It sort of felt like a wild west ghost town in some sections. Of course there was a bustling little downtown area with lots of shops and tons of places selling ice cream.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
There are no cars on the island except for police vehicles (and maybe 1 or 2 delivery trucks) so it's pretty quiet. But there are a ton of horse-drawn carriages. We opted to walk around though and get some exercise, ultimately hiking to the highest point on the island and being rewarded with breathtaking views and a cold beer. Thanks go to Justin for encouraging the trek up there despite the heat.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
We ended up taking one of the carriages back to the ferry so that we could make it in time and then just grabbed a quick bite to each at a local place back in Taksim.
Overall, totally an awesome day. It was a bit of an adventure since we didn't know what to expect and it turned out great. It made me realize that I don't take enough time to do this sort of stuff when I'm at home. Justin recommended doing a similar hike and ferry ride to Angel Island so I'm adding that to my "to do" list when I get back to San Francisco.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Istanbul Day 6 - Sight Seeing
Today was our day for touristy stuff so we tried to hit as many of the major sites as possible. Here is a short recap of what we saw:
Topkapi Palace - This was an old palace that served as the home for the Ottoman Sultans. It was pretty big with a ton of different buildings (including the "circumcision room"...uhhhh?) There were a ton of jewels and other artifacts on display but the highlights had to be: an 86 carat diamond that was originally found in the city rubbish dump, the staff Moses used to part the sea, and the fingers of John the Baptist.
Hagia Sophia - The Haga Sophia is a church which was turned into a mosque. It's definitely a unique and beautiful building worth seeing. Massive is the best way to describe it.
Blue Mosque - The Blue Mosque was pretty interesting too. You are required to remove your shoes to enter. It's currently Ramadan too, so it may have been busier than usual. I was sort of disappointed with the ability to take a good photo though because they had these low-hanging chandeliers and a ton of wires obstructing the views of the ornate ceilings.
Cistern Basilica - This was probably my favorite thing that we saw today, mainly because I loved the underworld sort of feeling and the engineering that must have gone into creating such a place. It was essentially a big underground reservoir for the city of Istanbul and there were aqueducts to transport the water to and from the reservoir. Today there's only a few feet of water in it, but I can imagine that it must have gotten quite full in the past (there are big carp swimming around in the water today.) They do a great job of lighting it in an interesting way for the tourists although taking photos is tough because you need to use such a long exposure.
The Grand Bazar - The Grand Bazar was completely different from what I expected. I was thinking this would be very rustic with a dirt floor and little tent covered vendors. But it's really like a big maze of hallways and feels much more like a mall. There are some nice trendy sort of high end shops but most are little local establishments. It seems like you can get just about anything here and haggle prices with the local Turks. All the folks I was with bought some little souvenirs and some bought bigger ticket items like turkish rugs.
For dinner we went to Park Flora to have fish on the Bosphorus. This is a very nice restaurant with a great view and outdoor seating. They sell fish in kind of a strange way though. First, the prices on the menu are all per KG, so at first we were shocked to see how expensive everything is. But considering that an entree is only like 400 grams it was slightly more reasonable. But the other weird part was that you actually get up from your table with the waiter to go and pick your specific fish from their "fish market" in the restaurant. They have them all laid out on ice and you choose the one you want. We all ended up getting sea bass so they picked the biggest one for us to share. There was no choice on how it's prepared so we were in for a surprise. It turned out to be good though and even more importantly, it was a great experience.
One thing that I realized on this trip is a quote that Justin keeps saying "it's all about the experience" and he's right. Experiences might cost money, but that's beside the point. You want to have interesting, unique, enjoyable experiences when you're on a trip to a foreign country and money should be a secondary concern (in my opinion.) So even though it was an expensive dinner, it was definitely worth it and something I'll remember forever.
After dinner we walked over to Ortokoy for drinks down by the water. I think we were just at the Radisson hotel bar or something but it was awesome...right on the water with great views of the bridge and a trendy European crowd. One tip while you're in Turkey is to order the local vodka (Bimboa) if you are getting mixed drinks because it's significantly cheaper. Imported alcohol is heavily taxed.
Finishing up our drinks we tried to meet up with Preston and his friends to go to Angelic, a local club/bar. Unfortunately, only a few of us where able to get in (Justin and Harsha) but actually that worked out well since it allowed Caroline, Andrea, Neville and I to get an "early" night's sleep. I think Harsha and Justin had a pretty big night out and looked like they were in some pain the next morning.
Topkapi Palace - This was an old palace that served as the home for the Ottoman Sultans. It was pretty big with a ton of different buildings (including the "circumcision room"...uhhhh?) There were a ton of jewels and other artifacts on display but the highlights had to be: an 86 carat diamond that was originally found in the city rubbish dump, the staff Moses used to part the sea, and the fingers of John the Baptist.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Hagia Sophia - The Haga Sophia is a church which was turned into a mosque. It's definitely a unique and beautiful building worth seeing. Massive is the best way to describe it.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Blue Mosque - The Blue Mosque was pretty interesting too. You are required to remove your shoes to enter. It's currently Ramadan too, so it may have been busier than usual. I was sort of disappointed with the ability to take a good photo though because they had these low-hanging chandeliers and a ton of wires obstructing the views of the ornate ceilings.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Cistern Basilica - This was probably my favorite thing that we saw today, mainly because I loved the underworld sort of feeling and the engineering that must have gone into creating such a place. It was essentially a big underground reservoir for the city of Istanbul and there were aqueducts to transport the water to and from the reservoir. Today there's only a few feet of water in it, but I can imagine that it must have gotten quite full in the past (there are big carp swimming around in the water today.) They do a great job of lighting it in an interesting way for the tourists although taking photos is tough because you need to use such a long exposure.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
The Grand Bazar - The Grand Bazar was completely different from what I expected. I was thinking this would be very rustic with a dirt floor and little tent covered vendors. But it's really like a big maze of hallways and feels much more like a mall. There are some nice trendy sort of high end shops but most are little local establishments. It seems like you can get just about anything here and haggle prices with the local Turks. All the folks I was with bought some little souvenirs and some bought bigger ticket items like turkish rugs.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
For dinner we went to Park Flora to have fish on the Bosphorus. This is a very nice restaurant with a great view and outdoor seating. They sell fish in kind of a strange way though. First, the prices on the menu are all per KG, so at first we were shocked to see how expensive everything is. But considering that an entree is only like 400 grams it was slightly more reasonable. But the other weird part was that you actually get up from your table with the waiter to go and pick your specific fish from their "fish market" in the restaurant. They have them all laid out on ice and you choose the one you want. We all ended up getting sea bass so they picked the biggest one for us to share. There was no choice on how it's prepared so we were in for a surprise. It turned out to be good though and even more importantly, it was a great experience.
One thing that I realized on this trip is a quote that Justin keeps saying "it's all about the experience" and he's right. Experiences might cost money, but that's beside the point. You want to have interesting, unique, enjoyable experiences when you're on a trip to a foreign country and money should be a secondary concern (in my opinion.) So even though it was an expensive dinner, it was definitely worth it and something I'll remember forever.
After dinner we walked over to Ortokoy for drinks down by the water. I think we were just at the Radisson hotel bar or something but it was awesome...right on the water with great views of the bridge and a trendy European crowd. One tip while you're in Turkey is to order the local vodka (Bimboa) if you are getting mixed drinks because it's significantly cheaper. Imported alcohol is heavily taxed.
Finishing up our drinks we tried to meet up with Preston and his friends to go to Angelic, a local club/bar. Unfortunately, only a few of us where able to get in (Justin and Harsha) but actually that worked out well since it allowed Caroline, Andrea, Neville and I to get an "early" night's sleep. I think Harsha and Justin had a pretty big night out and looked like they were in some pain the next morning.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Istanbul Day 5 - Bosphorus Dinner Cruise
On Friday we visited Cisco, which was our first multi-national firm so I was pretty interested to see what it was like because I expect that working for Google in Turkey would be similar. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to visit the Google office but will make that a priority for my next trip.
The Cisco office felt and looked pretty much like any silicon valley office building, though they tend to build up rather than out here in Istanbul due to space constraints. If I recall, Cisco was on the 20th floor or so. I don't know if they were just dressed up for us, but the employees were very well dressed.
Cisco's business in Turkey largely involves sharing and selling their vision of the future. I suspect this is how they operate in the states too. Their description of this connected future reminds me of Star Trek, but it's probably not that far away! The Turkey office was opened in 1997 and they have a second office in Ankara to work with the Turkish government. Umit, the General Manager of Cisco Turkey, shared his insights and experience with our class. He previously worked in the states and has an MBA though I forget where it was from. One particularly interesting quote from him was "Turkey is a battleground of east vs. west." We've heard the east/west connection many times but this was the first time I'd heard it referred to as a battleground.
Some of the trends he discussed were:
- Young Turks are ambitious
- Companies now are focusing on operational excellence versus financial management
- There is relative stability in the Turkish government
- The power of the military in the government is declining
Other interesting take-aways from the day:
- Their HR manager (and others) referred to firing employees as "releasing" them.
- Negotiations with Turks can often include non-monetary items such as power, influence, honor, or respect.
- Light conversation is key prior to negotiations in order to build rapport.
- Turks are proud of Turkey and happy to answer questions when foreigners take an interest in their country.
- Relationships are key in business. Sometimes salespeople even go on vacations with their customers and their families.
- Even though day-to-day business can have hurdles, having that strong relationship allows you to call your customers and talk to them like they're your friends.
- I liked the way they used the CXO acronym rather than the familiar "C Suite" or "C level" description
After Cisco's main office visit, we went to the local university to see a Cisco Networking classroom. Overall, this wasn't too interesting but I did think it was neat that the school was 237 years old!
We had some time to kill after the Cisco visit so we went to the local mall which was really a super-high end place for the rich. Given the heat, it was nice to get into some air conditioning for awhile. Inside the mall we found many of the same brands and stores we're familiar with in the states. One key difference weas the fact that there are armed security guards and metal detectors at the entrances to the mall. There was also a mini Audi dealership inside the mall. They had an R8 and RS5 on display there and I was shocked to see the prices. Tax on imported cars is near 98%, making the RS5 cost about 140,000 euros which is like 320,000 Turkish Lira! (Normally this car would be about 66,000 euros if it were available in the US.) The saleswoman at the dealership didn't speak much English, only German and Turkish but admiring cars is universal I think.
Friday night was our big Bosphorus dinner cruise which so far has been a major highlight of the trip. The cruise started out interestingly enough with a distressed sailboat coming into the port. After much drama, our boat pulled him into the dock. In general, the Bosphorus is pretty crowded with boats and the captains don't seem to concerned when boats get pretty close to each other. The cruise was awesome, with great views of Istanbul at sunset. A few other folks joined us on the cruise including Tara and her husband and two SCU Global Fellows who were studying in Istanbul. Overall it was a nice night of conversation, wine, food, and amazing views. Rather than try to describe it all, I've included some pictures below.
After the cruise we grabbed a few beers at Tunel with the group. Tara's husband Gian is in the Turkish Navy and is a hilarious guy who kept us entertained all night with his stories. Finishing up at Tunel, we caught a cab back to the hotel and ended another memorable night.
The Cisco office felt and looked pretty much like any silicon valley office building, though they tend to build up rather than out here in Istanbul due to space constraints. If I recall, Cisco was on the 20th floor or so. I don't know if they were just dressed up for us, but the employees were very well dressed.
Cisco's business in Turkey largely involves sharing and selling their vision of the future. I suspect this is how they operate in the states too. Their description of this connected future reminds me of Star Trek, but it's probably not that far away! The Turkey office was opened in 1997 and they have a second office in Ankara to work with the Turkish government. Umit, the General Manager of Cisco Turkey, shared his insights and experience with our class. He previously worked in the states and has an MBA though I forget where it was from. One particularly interesting quote from him was "Turkey is a battleground of east vs. west." We've heard the east/west connection many times but this was the first time I'd heard it referred to as a battleground.
Some of the trends he discussed were:
- Young Turks are ambitious
- Companies now are focusing on operational excellence versus financial management
- There is relative stability in the Turkish government
- The power of the military in the government is declining
Other interesting take-aways from the day:
- Their HR manager (and others) referred to firing employees as "releasing" them.
- Negotiations with Turks can often include non-monetary items such as power, influence, honor, or respect.
- Light conversation is key prior to negotiations in order to build rapport.
- Turks are proud of Turkey and happy to answer questions when foreigners take an interest in their country.
- Relationships are key in business. Sometimes salespeople even go on vacations with their customers and their families.
- Even though day-to-day business can have hurdles, having that strong relationship allows you to call your customers and talk to them like they're your friends.
- I liked the way they used the CXO acronym rather than the familiar "C Suite" or "C level" description
After Cisco's main office visit, we went to the local university to see a Cisco Networking classroom. Overall, this wasn't too interesting but I did think it was neat that the school was 237 years old!
We had some time to kill after the Cisco visit so we went to the local mall which was really a super-high end place for the rich. Given the heat, it was nice to get into some air conditioning for awhile. Inside the mall we found many of the same brands and stores we're familiar with in the states. One key difference weas the fact that there are armed security guards and metal detectors at the entrances to the mall. There was also a mini Audi dealership inside the mall. They had an R8 and RS5 on display there and I was shocked to see the prices. Tax on imported cars is near 98%, making the RS5 cost about 140,000 euros which is like 320,000 Turkish Lira! (Normally this car would be about 66,000 euros if it were available in the US.) The saleswoman at the dealership didn't speak much English, only German and Turkish but admiring cars is universal I think.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
Friday night was our big Bosphorus dinner cruise which so far has been a major highlight of the trip. The cruise started out interestingly enough with a distressed sailboat coming into the port. After much drama, our boat pulled him into the dock. In general, the Bosphorus is pretty crowded with boats and the captains don't seem to concerned when boats get pretty close to each other. The cruise was awesome, with great views of Istanbul at sunset. A few other folks joined us on the cruise including Tara and her husband and two SCU Global Fellows who were studying in Istanbul. Overall it was a nice night of conversation, wine, food, and amazing views. Rather than try to describe it all, I've included some pictures below.
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
 |
| From 2010 Turkey |
After the cruise we grabbed a few beers at Tunel with the group. Tara's husband Gian is in the Turkish Navy and is a hilarious guy who kept us entertained all night with his stories. Finishing up at Tunel, we caught a cab back to the hotel and ended another memorable night.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Istanbul Day 4
(This is going to be a short post because I don't have that many notes about this day.)
On Thursday we went to Dogan, a large holding company. They had nice buildings on their "campus" and armed (MP5) security out front. Basically, Dogan owned a ton of other companies, with lots of them in the media business (TV, newspapers, etc.) In fact, the Turkish government recently hit Dogan with a $5 billion (yes billion!) dollar tax penalty which seems to coincide with some bad press Dogan published about the government. Censorship? It sure seems like it.
We went to a fancy lunch with the Dogan folks, who were great hosts. After that we went to Airties, a consumer networking startup and then met with a Wall Street Journal reporter based in Istanbul.
A couple of interesting observations from the day:
- Gas is expensive in Turkey, about $2.50/liter which is around $10/gallon!
- Dogan is helping build the Trump Towers Istanbul
- Dogan had an IT guy in our meeting strictly to run the videos and powerpoint presentation
- Airties is one of the coolest companies in Turkey (along with Turkcell)
- Airties get customer feedback directly into development by putting engineers in the call center a couple days per month
- Airties will never outsource their support because they view this as vital feedback
On Thursday we went to Dogan, a large holding company. They had nice buildings on their "campus" and armed (MP5) security out front. Basically, Dogan owned a ton of other companies, with lots of them in the media business (TV, newspapers, etc.) In fact, the Turkish government recently hit Dogan with a $5 billion (yes billion!) dollar tax penalty which seems to coincide with some bad press Dogan published about the government. Censorship? It sure seems like it.
We went to a fancy lunch with the Dogan folks, who were great hosts. After that we went to Airties, a consumer networking startup and then met with a Wall Street Journal reporter based in Istanbul.
A couple of interesting observations from the day:
- Gas is expensive in Turkey, about $2.50/liter which is around $10/gallon!
- Dogan is helping build the Trump Towers Istanbul
- Dogan had an IT guy in our meeting strictly to run the videos and powerpoint presentation
- Airties is one of the coolest companies in Turkey (along with Turkcell)
- Airties get customer feedback directly into development by putting engineers in the call center a couple days per month
- Airties will never outsource their support because they view this as vital feedback
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