ChatKGB

TO THE IMMORTAL MEMORY
Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli
Friday, 28 July 2023
The Garrick Club

Annual Conference of the Dickens Fellowship: Barnard’s Inn, London (26-29 July 2023)

Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen,

Although there is a wealth of Dickensian material to mine, I suspect that this assembly of enthusiasts has mined it thoroughly. At first I read “Great Expectations”, but the inspiration wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. Charles Dickens didn’t always think Americans worthy of mining his œuvre, scribbling in an 1845 letter to Lady Blessington, “I do not know the American gentleman, God forgive me for putting two such words together.”

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“Teacher, Tutor, Scholar, I”

Remarks to: the Worshipful Company Of Educators, on the occasion of the annual Franklin Lecture, Mansion House, 18:00 to 19:00, Thursday, 9 February 2023.

“Teacher, Tutor, Scholar, I” – A Metaverse Of Education Or Conundra[1] Of Confusion

My Lord Mayor, Master, Aldermen, Sheriff, visiting Masters, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen,

Just two minutes ago, before coming up here, Stephen Bernhard asked me if I felt nervous. “Of course”, I replied. Stephen said, “I too always got nervous giving our company’s seminars, and I knew what I was talking about.” Thanks, Stephen.

Our Master [Caroline Haines] asked me to consider the future of education.  F Scott Fitzgerald said that “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”[2]  My first idea is that something absolutely must be done to make education far more relevant to the modern world, while the second is that we have little idea what exactly to do. 

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In Memoriam, Reinhold

“Wenn Ihr an mich denkt, seid nicht traurig. Nennt mich bei dem Namen, den Ihr mir immer gegeben habt. Erzählt von mir und traut Euch, zu lachen. Gebt mir einen Platz zwischen Euch, so wie ich ihn im Leben hatte. Ich bin nicht weit weg, nur auf der anderen Seite des Weges.”

Reinhold Reuß [1 Januar 1935 – 23 Dezember 2022]

Your Name In (Sky) Lights!

One City of London tradition is that each Lord Mayor has their name etched in stained glass at the Guildhall. It’s a nice tradition to be up there among some 694 others. If you’re at the Guildhall trying to find this, it’s up in the rafters on the northeast side, high on your left as you enter the main entrance from the west.

It was also Lidar-scanned as part of the Europeana Twin.it project, but the resolution isn’t high enough to make out the etchings.

Interestingly, despite the many other memorials and statues to the great and the good in the Guildhall, there is only one to a Lord Mayor, and a controversial one at that, Sir William Beckford.

Hasta Mañana

Remarks to: IoD India (Institute of Directors), 2022 London Global Convention on Corporate Governance & Sustainability, The Montcalm, Marble Arch, London, W1H 7TN, 11:00-12:00, Thursday, 10 November 2022.

Boardroom Challenges In A New World Order

 Emerging Challenges for Board Leadership in the New Economy

 Building high performance Boards in uncertain times: Balancing Strategy, Operations & Compliance

 Board’s oversight for fundamental Seismic Shifts in Global Geopolitics & guide to a disrupted world

 Board’s Human Capital Strategy – Rising to the Challenges of the Future Work Place

 Board Leadership and Strategy for leveraging corporate culture and value chain

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