Events

Merkel puts on brave face for CeBIT’s future

It’s that time of year when the tech industry flocks in droves to that dreary, grey German city called Hanover to celebrate the sector, to make deals, to network and connect and to round it all off in the evenings with swanky company dos, right?

Well, that used to be.

We know that CeBIT has lost its glam factor, its lustre — even if it still claims to be the world’s No.1 tech and IT fair. And, alas, we know that the industry is increasingly shifting its focus to the much hotter trade shows in Spain and the United States.

In hindsight, could it have been a desperate attempt to ward off the slide into oblivion when CeBIT invited Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to open the fair last year?

Or a sign of times to come?

Schwarzenegger symbolises a mix of Californian innovation and Hollywood glamour. But the state he governs is in a budget crisis and some are asking is California America’s first failed state?

Not a comforting sign.

from Left field:

Hasta La Pista, Baby

The Olympic torch relay just got bigger, much bigger.

At 106 days, the pre-Vancouver Winter Games run weighs in as the longest domestic relay in Olympic history and to help get it across the finish line… Arnie is back.

Famous for his ‘I’ll be back’ and ‘Hasta la vista, baby’ catchphrases in the Terminator films, Arnold Schwarzenegger, now Governor of California, is nipping over to Canada to flex his pecs with a torch run through Vancouver’s famous Stanley Park.

The former Mr Universe and Mr Olympia champion is the only heavyweight on a list you could describe as more Kindergarten Cop than Conan the Barbarian.

Singer Michael Buble and retired professional hockey player Richard “King Richard, Kermit” Brodeur are among the names, which arguably lack a bit of A list grandeur.

Who would you like to see bringing it home ahead of the start of the Games on Feb. 12?