As I plan to leave for my 4th visit to South Africa in a couple of days, it brings back some positive memories of earlier trips.
2005
2005 South Africa IT Manager Institute
In this first class, Dan Tankersley went with me. Dan and I have been co-workers and good friends since 1994. His family and mine have become as close to family as you can get and we try to see one another every year. Dan’s contributions to the start-up of my company were very helpful so the South Africa trip was a small way for me to give back to him. Both of us enjoyed this class very much.
I called this group the “fun class” because they bonded so quickly and had a good time together. Our excursion to Sun City was one I’ll never forget, , , we had a most interesting driver who we determined must have been paid by the hour.
2006
2006 South Africa IT Manager Institute
Our 2nd class in South Africa was my 20th overall and also a fun and interesting group. I would later reconnect with some of the Nigerians in this class during my first visit to Nigeria in 2009. It was in this class where I would meet Gynt Schoeman and his fiance, , , they would take me to a nice dinner a year later when I returned to South Africa.
This class included Herbert Ruth, a senior IT manager in his own right. We have stayed in contact and on the trip coming up we will be working together to put plans in place to do more for South Africa and other African countries.
2007
2007 South Africa IT Manager Institute
One of my larger classes and one in which Dan Tankersley participated in again. He was a great help and it makes a long trip all the more fun when you have someone to talk to at dinner, , , or to visit one of the African tribal cultural centers like we did. Great class and my 26th Institute at the time.
It has been three years since I was in South Africa and much has changed from what I hear. For one thing, the World Cup was just hosted there and many improvements have been made at the airport and in the infrastructure in and around Johannesburg, , , will be interesting to see.
I look forward to this class as I always do. This class will be a smaller group which I like in many ways because I’ll get to know each of the students much better.
Look for my posts next week when I add to the ITLever Blog from South Africa.
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