Controversy During the Business of Business

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Controversy During the Business of Business was Originally Posted on November 15, 2011 by

There is controversy today about the APEC meeting in Hawaii. APEC is a gathering of leaders from the Asia Pacific region working on a “seamless regional economy” and a “single free trade agreement”.

While some may question if this is in Americas best interest, the controversy is elsewhere.

These meetings are held in host countries since 1993, the attendees have worn local apparel. When the leaders gathered, they wore traditional business suits and ties. President Obama says he broke with tradition in part to make clear that it wasn’t just a fun vacation. While it’s true that last year Japan broke the tradition, I think this year would have been appropriate to wear the Aloha shirts designed for the occasion.

Over many years I have attended many events from conventions, shuttle launches, sales events, the Worlds Fair and yes even the Olympics. While I have made outward comments, I have reverted in the end and joined in on the festivities, usually involving t-shirts, pins or other logo items. An example was the Atlanta Olympics where I attended after the bombing and although I pooh-poohed the collection of Olympic pins, it was only about 45 minutes before I owned my first of many pins, which I wore while there.

So, I was quite surprised that the participants would not wear an Aloha shirt while in Hawaii. What better way to show that APEC members were willing to work together than the showing of “Aloha” with the shirts. Hawaiian visitors want to join in on the culture here where people try to get along. No matter what their differences, I think the Aloha shirts would have been a nice touch to show that they were trying to work out differences. It is hard to fight in an Aloha shirt with flowers around your neck.

So, the President decided not to have the shirts worn to show that the leaders, in business suits, were working and not on vacation. I guess that makes sense since the President was also not on vacation, holding a fund-raiser while he was here.

Yup, all business.