A new job title had been created by Race Of Champions
organizator: The COUNTRY ADVISOR.
Race Of Champions took place in Bangkok in December 2012. A
mega event, or the largest stadium event Thailand has ever done. Many people
contacted me during the setup time and asked: “Are Thais able to host such a
high tech, mega event already?”
Of course the can – Thailand is the 6th largest automotive
production country and mechanical engineering is worldwide known. Maybe it’s
not the skills what people missing from Thais, but communication problems,
face-to-face interaction between people living in different cultures, with
different ideologies, philosophy of life.
Yes, regarding that, it’s difficult to understand, how Thai’s
want to match the expectations of a European event organization. But the Management of Race Of Champions act
different! They do events worldwide, to connect motorsport fans, talking
international hero closer to their fans.
Michael Schumacher by
example is Thai’s greatest hero. Even every Taxi driver in Bangkok knows him
for his enormous help after the tsunami in 2004. He is one of the most successful
person on earth, but still regarding the poor and willing to help, where help
is needed. And he showed it to the Thais, who needed all help after the
disaster in Phuket. During the race of Champions you could see banners with “Thank
you Michael – we love you!” – not because of his titles, but because he is a
real hero in Thailand.
It doesn’t make it easier for ROC to move an event from high
tech Germany to Thailand, from a country with a lot of experience in organizing
mega events, to a country, where this event would create a milestone. And
exactly that’s the point, where a COUNTRY ADVISOR finds his place in an
international organization.
With all my international event experience, my “love to
Thailand” and the Buddhism, ROC chose myself to be their Country Advisor for
the Race Of Champions in 2012.
There are many advisors on this planet. In Wikipedia you can
read about Dipmeter Advisors and Combine Advisor, but nothing about a Country
Advisor. One is the same for all: Their functions are purely consultative.
Understanding is based on comprehension, discernment and empathy.
As a Country Advisor
I do active support an idea or cause, especially it’s the act of pleading or arguing
for something between people of different nations, cultures, religions or
simple different understanding and knowledge.
The success of the ROC event was not only based on modern
technology, engineering and FIA rules, but also
on understanding between 200 foreigners coming to Thailand to run the event
with another 600 Thais. It’s like running a multicultural company with 800
people right from the first day, without knowing each other and without any
time of training.
It was a great pleasure for me to be part of the ROC Team,
my job gave me an exaggerated opinion of the importance of a Country Advisor for
such an international event.
