Bill Bird asked Samir Fares to fly from Bahrain to Dubai as he wanted to brief us about a major PR project for Cable & Wireless. When we met, he asked us to join him on a drive to Jebel Ali, where he asked his company driver to circle around the giant satellite tracking station that was perched on a hilltop overlooking the port and the free zone. Bill explained that after this project was completed in Dubai, each of the six other rulers wanted to build a satellite tracking station in their emirate. Cable & Wireless was about to complete one in partnership with Siemens at the most northern of emirates, Ras Al Khaimah, and Bill wanted Intermarkets to organize its global launch.
This turned out to be a spectacular learning experience for the Intermarkets Dubai and Bahrain teams, as we invited eight telecommunication specialist journalists from the UK and Germany to participate and cover the event. We flew them all first-class to Bahrain. Then we had the private jet of Sheikh Sakr Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, shuttle each one of them to Dubai, where we had booked them at the Dubai InterContinental until the event night as Ras Al Khaimah did not have an airport.
The Cable & Wireless and Intermarkets welcoming committee teams took turns flying the royal jet to Bahrain to keep the journalists’ company. As I boarded the Bombardier executive jet at Dubai International Airport, I was so taken by the plane’s interior and the fact that I was the only passenger on board that I forgot to fasten my seatbelt. To my amazement, the public announcement system crackled, and the captain’s voice said loudly: “Welcome on-board Mr. Raad. Our flight to Bahrain takes 75 minutes in fine and clear weather. Now please fasten your seatbelt, straighten your seat back, and enjoy the flight.”
The next day we escorted the media to Ras Al Khaimah to participate in the press conference, which was to be hosted by the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. Bill Bird wanted to play it safe by insisting that the European media try to be considerate to their Arab hosts. With this in mind, he assigned each one of the Intermarkets team to shadow one of the European journalists throughout their stay. At the press conference, the only female journalist in the visiting group – a telecommunications reporter who wrote for the Financial Times – asked His Highness, The Ruler: “Is it true that Ras Al Khaimah has 82 telephone subscribers only? And if so, why did you build a satellite tracking station when there is one in nearby Dubai?” The moment she finished her questions, the power at the venue went off and Bill Bird jumped to the podium and announced the end of the press conference. While stepping down, my eyes caught those of Bill, and he winked.
The inauguration ceremony was very well planned and executed. It was a full moon night and the rulers of the seven emirates were seated on an elevated platform under the giant dish. The guests, including the European media, were seated in a semi-circle facing the rulers and the dish. In between, we had installed a giant screen that showed the guests as they arrived. At eight sharp, the flood lights were dimmed, and a warm-voiced Sheikh recited an appropriate verse from the Quran. When he finished, the lights were switched off and the entire place was engulfed in darkness. Only the satellite dish was contrasted against the full moon. Suddenly the giant screen was lit with the video of His Majesty King Khalid Bin Abdelaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, looking towards the Sheikhs, and waving to salute them, saying: “A-Salamu-Alaikum”. All the Sheikhs instantly stood up, as if in a pre-agreed move, and saluted back in one voice and one unified gesture. Suddenly the giant screen went off and the King and his Riyadh palace background vanished. Bill Bird, next to whom I was standing, leaped like a tiger, hissing between his lips, and swearing at the Germans. As we dashed towards the control room at the back of the installation, he went on blaming this technical glitch on Siemens’ engineers who, in his extremely nervous assessment, had intentionally sabotaged the show, which was looking like a Cable & Wireless-only event.
After a few minutes the satellite link with Saudi Arabia was restored to reveal King Khalid still standing and raising his right hand to his forehead in a gesture of royal salute. What followed was surprising – and slightly funny – as the salutation continued from both sides, as if the leaders of the GCC did not know what to do next.
At the end of the event, the global CEO of Cable & Wireless, who had flown in from London to lead his company’s presence at the delivery of such a major project, presented to Sheikh Sakr a very large, framed photo of the satellite dish at night with a full moon in the background. This photo was taken by a Scottish photographer named Bill Fisher, who was a childhood friend of Bill Bird. This gift received massive Cable & Wireless orchestrated media coverage.