Currently being in Atlanta I couldn’t help myself but to post a short piece on what will likely be one of the world’s most historic events – the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama!

Last night I flew over the top of Washington and based on the statistics I was hearing today I think that is a close as I want to get!

They are predicting over 2 million people will head out to see the inauguration ‘live.’ I say ‘live’ because by some accounts some people will actually be as many as 27 blocks away from where it all takes place.

To cap it off today (the day before the big event) is Martin Luther King day so in the words of one man I was talking to at breakfast “we’re in the middle of four days of celebration.”

Some people are saying the inauguration overshadows the importance of today – I believe however it actually makes the significance of the event that much greater.

I know tomorrow virtually the whole US will stand still – I am sure there will be plenty other places around the world that do so too.

Yesterday I finally got to visit the BMW Welt – Situated next to the BMW Production Plant, Headquarters and Museum the Welt is the Showcase for all things BMW. (Welt is the German word for World.)

However the Welt is more than that, is is also the winner of the Production Category in the World Architecture Festival Awards 2008. (The same awards that Patterson Associates were in – just a different category.)

The story of the Welt Design Competition I think is fantastic:

275 architecture firms submitted tenders for the BMW Welt, and the jury’s decision was unanimous. The winning design was by Professor Wolf D. Prix and the Viennese architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au.

As a student, Professor Prix attended lectures by Professor Karl Schwanzer, the architect of the BMW headquarters – the so-called 4-Cylinder Building – and the BMW Museum. On one occasion, Professor Schwanzer’s lecture was interrupted as there was a call for him. When he came back he said to his students: “Today is like Christmas for me – I have won the BMW Tower!” Exactly 30 years later, Professor Prix was giving a lecture in Vienna himself. This lecture was also interrupted: “You have won the BMW Welt competition!”

The museum was absolutely incredible and well worth a visit – even if you are not into cars!

Check out the Satellite View in Google Maps to see what BMW paint on the roof of their circular museum – though I warn you it isn’t too surpising!

Note: I apologise for the photo quality as I only had my phone with me! For better images and also design sketches and plans check out the BMW Welt Website.

It is not surprising, given my background and eduction, that when I find myself with spare time during my travels that I enjoy walking around and checking out the local architecture.

Today I found myself with spare time in Munich and while I only had my phone (not sure how I managed to leave my camera at home) I was able to find immense variety in the local architecture.

From the historic National Theatre and the Theatine Church; to the 1972 Munich Olympic Park; through to the BMW Welt and the recently completed Museum Brandhorst the architecture was varied and amazing.

I am currently in Munich to catch up with some of our Cadimage Tools partners during the BAU2009 Trade Show.

To say BAU is enormous is an understatement – BAU 2009 is being held at the Munich Trade Fair Center and covers all 16 Exhibition Halls.

Not surprisingly all the big names in Architectural Software were there. More surprising for me was the number of other CAD solutions on offer.

However, BAU is more than just software and IT though it is all about Building and simply the sheer quantity of building products – from mail boxes to car stacking systems – was mind blowing.

During the show I got a chance to catch up with some more Kiwi’s on the FrameCAD stand - it was really great to catch up with another New Zealand company taking architectural software to the world. FrameCAD were very pleased with the response they were getting from the show – not only from German companies but companies from Turkey, Poland, Romania, Iran… the list goes on.

Sitting here as I fly over Siberia I can’t help but think how one of Xero’s strongest selling points is also – presently – an enormous weakness!

The beauty of Xero is that it is an Internet based Accounting Package – meaning where I can connect I can view and work on my accounts.

With the start of our new financial year I finally converted my 4 remaining companies onto Xero. In one of my accounts I now have over 350 Bank transactions to reconcile.

While sitting here with not a lot else to do I can’t do a bank reconciliation.

This post is a little tongue-in-cheek really! While I will have to reconcile my accounts at some stage the one thing I enjoy about flying is that it does prevent you doing some things and therefore forcing you to do others such as read!

As I said at the start being online is what I perceive as one of Xero’s biggest assets. Being a central online system  is fantastic, especially considering how much I travel currently. The files for my old accounting system add up to 150mb which to continually copy backwards and forwards became a nightmare on poor connections and there was always the inherent risk of losing data if other people accessed the files in the meantime.

So thumbs up for Xero, I know in the near future I will have an Internet connection while flying and will be able to catch up on my accounts. But in reality while flying I enjoy not being able to do things more than I would enjoy being able to!

Firstly Happy New Year!

I always find it quite refreshing to start a New Year – quite often things you never managed to complete the previous year don’t seem quite as important when you are full of new ideas after a break away!

Following on from my suggestions regarding Xero’s Top 5 Success and Survival Tips for 2009 I saw the following NZ Herald article reinforcing my thoughts that during tough times it is important to keep your eyes open for opportunities. Incidentally Greg helped my companies develop our business strategy and is constantly keeping me focused on achieving our goals.

Shortly I am off overseas again to see what opportunities I can turn into reality for 2009.