Day two of our global Information Technology retreat was successful from a work perspective. Lots of discussion, coming to consensus on several topics, but not all of course. Having just met many members of the group for the first time in the past few days, I am happy to witness the group gaining more confidence with each other and offer critical and honest feedback.

The highlights of the day however, included two less work related items:

1. We received a visit from Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri (middle in photo below), the chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Among many awards and acolades, you may recall that Dr. Pachauri shared the 2007 Nobel Peace prize with former Vice President Al Gore. This was an unbelievable experience and honor to meet Dr. Pachauri. Our IT group was thrilled and felt extremely honored to meet him.

2. Our Council office in India invited our Information Technology group to a Dawali celebration! Dawali is one of the most popular Hindu festivals and is also called the "Festival of Lights". We enjoyed lots of fresh hanging flowers, and many, many lit candles and of course, excellent food - many of the sweet variety. All in all, a day where I had to stop myself and say "Wow", what a day with many special feelings.