Acronym

I thought that I would provide Acronym followers with a different perspective than Anne Blouin's. We arrived in New Delhi last evening from Mumbai. New Delhi certainly has a different vibe than Mumbai, the latter of which is much more frenetic and the former of which is more relaxed (those things are relative, it's hectic here too!).

We met this morning with five representatives from various associations headquartered here in New Delhi. While space doesn't permit me to go into details about our nearly 3 hour discussions, I walked away being reminded, yet again, of the fact that those things that make us different make us the same. I was also reminded - the good American that I am - that we are not the only sophisticated non-profit professionals in the world. I would have been proud to serve on any staff with the people that spoke with us today.

Our Indian colleagues here operate sophisticated organizations who are concerned with branding, value propositions, membership recruitment, registry of professionals (not certification, yet, though), education content development, and much more.

On the societal side, there is no question that many, many, many Indians live on less than $1/day. The fact alone makes this particular market for associations simultaneously daunting and full of opportunity. Fully 20 million Indians a year are raised up from the poverty level due to Indian and foreign investment. If there was ever a time to consider business and personal travel to this part of the world, it's now, whether you represent a large or small, local, state or national organization. The world is in India...and if we're not careful, we'll left out on the porch while the Chinese, the Europeans, the Scandinavians, and more are eating an amazing feast inside.

Good night from New Delhi...