Tell us about a time in your professional experience where you were frustrated

I guess none of you would be surprised if I told you working in a conflict zone was challenging; frustration stems from my work on a daily basis. For my former colleagues at JWT, and those of you who understand the logistics of the advertising/marketing business, I'm going to take a couple of minutes to explain what I'm up against.

The country is slowly developing, so we can actually produce posters, banners, billboards and other out-of-home creative in Afghanistan. We can also purchase billboard space in prime locations all over the country... but we can't confirm that our creative went up in regions outside of the capital. (I'm definitely not taking a trip into Kandahar to check if my ads look nice.) Furthermore, even if they do put up my billboard today, they may replace it with a competitor's billboard next week. Contract? What contract? Oh yea, and there are no rules on real estate, so if someone decides to build another billboard directly in front of the one with Roshan advertising, I can't do anything to stop it. This clearly isn't ideal, but it's better than when they start tearing down our billboards to fortify their roofs when it starts raining or to use them for firewood in the winter.

There is no such thing as GRPs in Afghanistan. The television showed up in households less than five years ago, and there are under ten TV channels in the country. Our media and research agencies actually went out and built a GRP tool specifically for us... but who's to say it's accurate? It's the only tool of it's kind!

The list above is minor compared to issues with securing talent. There is nothing more difficult than putting a woman in advertising. Even if she agrees to the photo shoot/TV commercial, a woman needs her husband's and/or father's signature in addition to her own on the contract. It's also not unheard of for women to call up in tears saying that her father has threatened to kill her if we don't take down the billboard featuring her face. Have a dead woman on our conscience or keep our ads up? It's a clear choice, but it's definitely not a cost effective way to run a business.

Roshan is a telecommunications company that has nation-wide coverage, which means my customers are everywhere. Roshan is also committed to the Afghan people, with the slogan, "Nazdik Shodan" or "bringing people together." One of the basic challenges presented to Joel and I when we started was to bring more humanity to the brand. It was a simple proposition: represent the Afghan people in our advertising. In a country like Afghanistan, this means representing people from different ethnic and tribal backgrounds,who speak different languages and dialects, engage in different cultural nuances and relate to specific regional landscapes. Some of these people have never left their village.

Unfortunately for us, the agency sitting in Beirut is forced to choose from an online library of photos (i.e. Getty) and 99% of the people in the library are not Afghan and do not look Afghan. Clearly, this is big problem if I'm looking to show the full variety of Afghans in my ads.

A good leader will say there is a solution to every problem. To find solutions in Afghanistan, we are often forced to think outside the box a little. We found a very talented photographer (war photographer by profession) to travel around the country for three months shooting locals in various scenarios, essentially creating our own Photo Library that we can use for the next 3-5 years. (Click here to check out Jason Howe's site - his shots are awesome.) We are having the Roshan IT department actually build software that will enable us to track the quality and visibility of our out of home advertisements (no, this does not exist yet, they can't even tell me the number of cars that drive by a major intersection everyday.)

I have no good solution to the women's issue in Afghanistan, but seriously, find me someone who does. In the meantime, I will continue to brainstorm solutions to the problems I encounter every day and keep my frustration level to a minimum. If I help evolve this brand even slightly in the year that I'm here, I will have succeeded at my goal.

Weekend Update

Just a quick update on a jam-packed weekend:

On Thursday night, our market research company hosted a "White Party" at their guest house. When you think of a guest house in Kabul, think about a massive mansion where  ten or so employees live and work. A handful of them had just come in from Paris, where they are based, and decided to throw a shindig. The party was pretty sweet: they had unlimited booze (more than you can fit in a suitcase and smuggle across the border.) Don't ask where it came from, cause they wouldn't tell me... There was also a dance floor, bonfire, appetizers and great conversation. Je parle tres bien Francais apres deux verres du vin. But, as always, we had to leave just as the party was getting fun. Roshan has a midnight curfew on weekends and apparently people like to lovingly refer to us as the "Cinderalla Crew."

Friday was a big day of burger eating, arts and crafts viewing, furniture, DVD and grocery shopping. We started at Habibis (see post, "Time Out: Kabul") and then headed to the heart of Kabul's old city, to a place called Turquoise Mountain, to check out student art work. The Turquoise Mountain program was initiated back in 2006 by a non-profit organization specializing in urban regeneration, business development and education in tradtional arts and architecture. I browsed through calligraphy, jewelry and hand carved chess boards before purchasing a ceramic bowl for $10.

Next stop was to look at hand-carved furniture and carpet shops. Since my arrival in Kabul, I've visited a couple of friend's rooms and seen the most stunning, light and dark wood, hand-carved furniture. Chests of drawers, mirrors, coffee tables, armoires - you name it, they make it. No seriously, they will custom-make a piece for you.The quality is beautiful and the hand-carvings are impeccable. Pieces that would cost upwards of $1500 in the US can be haggled down to $160. So... that's exactly what I did. I haggled with a very nice gentleman for a very beautiful piece of furniture. Worth every penny - just not sure how I'm going to get it back to North America.

After a quick pop into the grocery store to buy goods for family dinner that evening, we made our final stop at Nezar DVD shop. This place was heaven. They had original, complete box sets of pretty much every series you could think of, from Lost to Seinfeld to The Sopranos. And the box sets were no more than $30 a piece. Joel and I walked away with complete series of Dexter, The Wire, King of Queens, season six of Lost and three movies. And I am definitely going back for the Seinfeld set before I leave.

Saturday was a well-deserved day of rest, a little work and of course, the perfect day for a full-body massage. There was no good reason why I wouldn't head to Kabul Health Club and have my body massaged for an hour at the lowly price of $45. It was my first time at KHC, but I've heard they often throw massive parties in the garden area. The massage was fantastic, and I was blown away by the salon. They have all sorts of facilities: a steam room, sauna and work out facility, but the Jolie Salon was a real treat. They offer an "evening makeup" service for only $80...and if that doesn't satisfy your black tie needs, they can also do a one hour "Jolie Makeover" for $150 USD.

All jokes aside, the place was really nice, and totally empty. The service was great and the fresh juices were super tasty. I will definitely head back there soon for a day of relaxation.

Time Out: Kabul

I'm a big fan of cheeseburgers. I rarely pass up the opportunity to eat a burger when I'm out, and I am constantly putting in the effort to educate myself (and of course test) every good burger within close vicinity. I'm not talking McDonald's or Wendy's burgers, I'm talking Grade A beef cooked medium rare, with extra sharp cheddar cheese, a thick slice of an onion, tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mustard and mayo. You heard me, mayo.

I don't need any of the fancy toppings like caramelized onions, blue cheese or mushrooms - I am a straight up cheese on my burger gal. A good burger with fries and a diet coke can turn my frown upside down any day.

You can imagine my surprise when a couple of weeks ago, someone said to me that a restaurant called Habibis makes the best burger in Kabul. I have since been twice and I can honestly say it's one of the top five favorite burgers I've ever had the pleasure of putting in my belly. It doesn't hurt that they also serve cold Heineken in frosted glasses, and the restaurant is literally located in the owner's back yard. Given the atmosphere, service and general deliciousness of the food, I give Habibis a 9.5 out of 10. If you're ever in the neighborhood, you should definitely pop in.

For your reference, my list is as follows:
1. Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, New York City
2. Burger Joint, Le Meridien Hotel, New York City
3. Habibis, down some dirt road by the Roshan office, Kabul
4. Schiller's, Lower East Side, New York City
5. Pastis, Meatpacking district, New York City

Date Night

It's a funny thing, working with your significant other. Joel and I knew it was going to be a challenging year: not only coming out to Afghanistan together, but also working as colleagues running the Marketing Communications department at Roshan.

For those of you who don't know us, we met working together at JWT (thank you Bing Case Study.) But working together for an hour every couple of days to get a case study video done and spending eight hours every day looking at him from my desk are two totally different scenarios. So in effort to distinguish between work time, hanging out/watching TV time and romantical time, we instituted date night.

Last Sunday, as the kick off to Date Night series, we took the opportunity to celebrate our 10 month anniversary. (10 months on 10-10-10, how's that for good numerology?) We got a recommendation from some friends and headed out to eat Italian food at Bella Italia. It was the first time we had gone out just the two of us since leaving New York. The driver dropped us off in a relatively secured parking lot: we had to go through a check point to get into the place, and there were a bunch of other cars parked along the side of the street.

(Side note: There are no addresses or street signs in Kabul, but you can always tell the where the restaurants or bars are located by the number of cars/drivers parked on the street, since they sit and wait for people to finish. The cars carrying off duty American soldiers are generally white or black Toyota Four Runners, with thick antennas on the front. The US soldiers are always wearing bulletproof vests, even after they get past the various levels of security.) 

We took a quick look around and realized the driver had dropped us off in the wrong place. We finally found a guard who spoke English, and he pointed us in the direction of Bella Italia. We ended up walking for five minutes along barricaded and barbed wire sidewalks. Five minutes = 300 seconds. It's not a short amount of time. The entire length of the walk there were Afghan guards with guns - think full camouflage uniforms and rifles. For some reason, I had decided not to wear a long top that night, so my rump was exposed to these guys and I was feeling extra uncomfortable. Before you judge you have to remember this was date night...I had to look somewhat sexual. The situation in which we found ourselves was totally shady for a couple of reasons - a) because it was night time, and b) we are never allowed to walk anywhere, at any time, for security reasons.

At the end of our five minute adventure on foot, we found ourselves at the doorstep of an adorable, albeit slightly run down Italian joint. We ordered a caprese salad, brushetta, pizza, an awesome spinach and ricotta special and a couple of glasses of wine. The wine was fizzy but hit the spot. The crazy Croatian who's family makes the homemade moonshine told me there is no way to control the temperature of the wine as it's getting transported into Afghanistan, so it often ends up slightly carbonated.

Overall, date night was a total success. We found out later that the restaurant is located inside an International Forces compound, and the guys with guns were just there to protect us. I guess some things just aren't as scary as they seem.

Dubai World

I just returned from a week in Dubai for work and play. I have visited this city many times over the past 4 years, but I thought it may be useful for some people to put my thoughts on Dubai down in writing.

Dubai is like Vegas on steroids.

Everything there is the biggest, tallest, fastest and/or longest in the world. It's almost as though the person in charge has the smallest penis known to mankind.

Dubai has an island in the shape of a palm, the world's biggest mall, the world's tallest building, a fountain show that puts the Bellagio to shame and canals that are more extensive than Venice itself. There are numerous Maybachs, Bentleys, Mercedes Mclarens, Ferraris and Lamborghinis racing down Sheikh Zayed road at any time. Literally, a Porche Boxter is what the poor man drives.



Souk Madinat

 The pillars of the seven star hotel are plated with gold, and they have broken the world record for the largest indoor aquarium in the world. You can ski, ice skate, scuba dive, sky dive and rock climb in the middle of the desert. Everything is fake and everything is excessive.


Divers at the world's largest aquarium, Dubai Mall

 What's more is that they take service to the next level: the movie theaters have "gold suites" which offer personalized butler services for an additional $40. But even for us common folk, every seat is assigned. That means you get there early, select your seat, and then proceed to spend additional time/money in the surrounding shops in the mall. That's the other thing -- everything there is located either in a mall or a hotel. You can't just name a restaurant and ask a taxi driver to go there, because they won't know where it is unless you specify the hotel in which it's located. Sound kind of like Vegas?

The similarities are quite extensive and don't end with the grandiose architecture and excessive lifestyle. Obviously there is no gambling in Dubai (which some may say is the only reason people visit Vegas) but there sure are prostitutes and a pretty international range of hot girls. Joel and I had dinner at Ruth's Chris on Friday night with my family, then proceeded to meet friends at Buddha Bar. I watched in amazement as one girl stood at the bar for almost two hours. She wasn't waiting for friends, wasn't on her way anywhere, totally glossed over what she did for work... and apparently that was subtle. At the club in the Hyatt Galleria hotel, the women have no shame throwing themselves at men and being very clear about their price -generally between $500 - $2000 USD. 

There is one critical difference between Vegas and Dubai. In Vegas, anything goes. In Dubai, there are strict rules. Check out the picture I snapped from a mall entrance: 

"No kissing or overt displays of affection" 
I guess the Sex and The City stereotype holds true in this sense. The story about the British couple making out on the beach, getting arrested and thrown in jail for almost 6 weeks is entirely true. I also held hands with Joel while walking through the mall and didn't get stoned to death.

Dubai continues to grow. Last February when I was there for a JWT seminar, it was in so much trouble that it had started de-constructing certain sites. Dubai has since began re-constructing it's newest venture, Dubai Pearl.


Artist rendering of Dubai Pearl

Dubai was hit so hard by the recession that it had to go to turn to it's neighboring province, Abu Dhabi, to ask for $10 billion dollars to bail Dubai out of debt. The Sheikh agreed - mostly to ensure completion of the world's tallest building- but on the condition that the building be renamed from "Burj Dubai" to "Burj Khalifa", after him.



Burj Dubai aka Burj Khalifa

I guess we know who's got an even smaller one.

Recent NYT article about Dubai click here: "Collapse of Real Estate Boom Spells Havoc in Dubai", October 6, 2010

Old Buddies and New Buddies

This is Jacques Cousteau. He likes licking faces, chasing balls in the park and sun-bathing in a dog bed that's too small for him in Sal's new apartment.

Meet Taxi. Her likes include running away from basketballs, sneaking into the dining hall and rolling onto her back so we can all rub her belly when we get back from work. Below you will find her enjoying the shade in Roshan Village. She is my new friend.