London Commuters on the Go

Camera: Panasonic Lumix GF1

Parisians on Wheels

Camera: Panasonic Lumix GF1

Five Days in the French Riviera

I attended Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival at the last minute this year and was able to get into one of the last hotel rooms available – in Juan Les Pins, at a very nice place, but 10.5 km away from the Festival, back towards Nice. My transportation options were limited; call for a cab (the day before), the bus (20 minutes from my hotel on a limited schedule), the train (wasn’t sure where the station was). As I was pondering my options and enjoying the beautiful Riviera weather, I walked by a scooter rental establishment and without much thought, rented a scooter, quite possibly the most hasty but enjoyable decision at Cannes this year.

Every morning after enjoying my café, I got on the scooter and headed towards Cannes. The 25-minute ride from Juan Les Pins hugs the Riviera coastal line and is one of the most beautiful that I’ve experienced – once you learn to negotiate the traffic. I learned quickly that the ‘rules’ of the road do not apply to scooters and motorcycles. Even in the heaviest of traffic, riders split lanes and essentially navigate in between cars, on the opposite side of the road, on the sidewalk, vertically, horizontally, whatever it takes to get ahead of the next car in front of them – behavior that would certainly land them in jail in Chicago. However, after a few trips, I got used to this manic mission to pick off cars, no matter where they might be and actually found this to be much safer since almost all the automobile drivers expect this behavior from two-wheelers.

I came to look forward to riding to and from Cannes each morning and evening. It was a great way to prepare and decompress from the hustle and bustle of the Festival. I even took an excursion to Nice one day (26 km each way). On my last night at Cannes, my dinner meeting ended at 12:15am and I became anxious about my ride back to the hotel at that hour. Ironically, however, that ride was actually the safest and most peaceful ride of the trip. With very few cars and scooters, I was able to reflect on the week and enjoy the moment like never before.

For anyone looking to experience Cannes differently, a scooter is highly recommended.

Camera: Apple iPhone 4s

Scenes from Chicago by Phone

Found these old photos on my Motorola Droid X. 5.4MB files. Lightened up on PS.

Café Streets in Cannes

Camera: Apple iPhone 4s

Reflections on Attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity

Daniel Morel, CEO and Chairman of Wunderman

Why do I keep coming to Cannes? 

During the weeklong Festival, we were with Pepsico, former CMO of Best Buy, Colgate, P&G, Unilever and guess what? We are not wearing a suit, we are not behind a desk, we don't have to scream for an appointment. Cannes is the easiest place to talk to people and sell ideas. If you can't sell an idea here, you should be asking yourself if you can sell anything. People come here looking for new things, curious about new ideas and they are in a good mood, drinking Rosé – and they’re not thinking about the day-to-day realities of sitting at their office. People are on the receptive side.

In the twenty years I’ve been attending the Cannes Lion Festival, there have been many changes and you see more companies building things for the purpose of business. It’s almost like the auto show of Detroit today, but people come here for ideas and will continue to ask for what’s next? It’s a hunting ground for new things and connections.

Camera: Apple iPhone 4s
Reposted from WundermanReports