Marketing Safari

Nation branding: Icesave, the referendum and the brand Iceland

It's been an interesting weekend in Iceland, with the first referendum since Iceland got independence from Denmark in 1944. After heated discussions about the importance, or non-importance of the referendum, and what the people of the world will think of Iceland after all of this Icesave talk, I'm now leaving all that behind heading for new adventures. I'm sitting on a plane with a fantastic view over snow capped mountains, frozen lakes and deep narrow fjords of Norway, heading to the PhocusWright conference at ITB Berlin. But lets wrap up first.

Icesave is a dispute between Iceland on the one hand and UK and the Netherlands on the other about Iceland paying back the money those countries used to bail out depositors in their countries because of the bankruptcy of an Icelandic bank operating there. I'm not going to tire you with arguments about what would be just, Iceland to pay or not, and under what conditions.  My focus is on the effect this case has on the brand Iceland.

When the Icelandic president vetoed the law confirming an agreement that those countries had made, it made headlines all around Europe. It was a very unusual act by the president but over 56.000 people, about 23% of registered voters, had signed a petition to the president to do so because they felt Iceland was being forced into a deal it could never withhold, a debt prison where every man, woman and child in the country was being forced to pay back 12.000 Euros per person to UK and NL, plus interest. The veto meant that the law should be put up for a vote by the Icelandic nation.

The referendum was last saturday and the question was simple: should the law confirming the agreement be accepted or denied. The message was clear, 93,2% voted for NO, 1,8% voted for yes and the rest were blank votes, mainly protesting that there was a referendum when a better deal was already in the making. This again got media attention in Europe and the US. Both when the president vetoed the law and after the referendum, the articles and the media coverage was mixed, some saying Iceland would be outcasted because she would not pay, while others said it was the right thing to do because Iceland was getting unfair treatment forced to pay back the debts of a private company abroad - and that anyone could be next.

All the criticism Iceland got abroad, has got many people here in Iceland worried about the brand Iceland. They are worried that it is now ruined. That is based on the incorrect assumption that negative publicity always has a negative effect on a brand. We should all know that those who always try to please everyone usually don't get much respect and usually have an unclear image as they are likely to change their behaviour to please someone else. On the other hand, those who are true to their believes and opinions and are consistent in their behaviour tend to strengthen their brand and image, whether they are pleasing people or not.

Icelanders have been proud of being hard-working, independent and stubborn people who are willing to go along way to protect their newly gained independence and interests. Proud of being the nation that has never had an army of its own but still conquered Britain in three wars in the last century. The veto and the result of the referendum is consistent with the image Iceland earned last century and is only strengthening that. That is a good thing for the Icelandic brand.

In 2009 there was a 5.5% decrease in tourism in Europe. In Iceland the government cut the marketing budget for Iceland as a destination by 20%. Additional to that, Iceland got a lot of negative publicity because of the collapse of the banking sector and grim economic prospects. One could expect this to have a devastating effect on the tourist industry in Iceland. But guess what. Iceland had an increase in tourism in 2009 despite all this. Now,  popularity as a tourist destination is NOT the same as a nation brand, though some correlation can be expected. It would be interesting to see what effect all this has on Iceland in Anholt's Nation Brand Index, but my guess is that participation in that research is one of the post that have been cut down. There are three main factors that can be pointed out to explain the increase in tourism in Iceland:

1. Good negative publicity

2. Fall of the Icelandic krona making the country more affordable for foreigners

3. Better use of the marketing budget, shifting focus more to the core markets, cutting down the less efficient marketing channels and the overhead

This of course doesn't mean that ALL negative publicity is positive. But it is a reminder that negative publicity isn't neccesseraly negative for your brand. It can be a reinforcement of it. Besides, the smaller your brand is, the less you have to lose and more you have to gain. Just think Borat. Before Borat noone knew anything about Kazakhstan. Now people know at least that there is a country named Kazakhstan they know nothing about. That's the first step.

The lights on my left are shaped like Copenhagen. That's good. It's getting dark and the trolls are probobaly about to wake up in the Norwegian mountains. Better be out of their way.

See you at ITB Berlin
Hjörtur

Did the Icelandic President's Veto on Icesave Damage Iceland's Image?

First: Is Iceland Really Not Going To Repay Icesave?

Yes, we will! Iceland will repay Icesave!

The meaning of the president's veto yesterday is not that Iceland will not repay Icesave. Iceland will though UK and Dutch politicians are trying to tell you different. What it means is that we will not accept the terms Brown, Darling and Bos have forced upon Iceland in the negotiations.

We may be a tiny little nation and Brown and Darling may think this is a brilliant way to find a foreign enemy to gain more popularity in the UK, their own little Falkland war. But we're no Falkland islands. We're the tiny little no-army nation that won three wars with the UK last century - over cod. In diplomacy we are an example of how a small nation can bring a large one down in a conflict. Unfortunately our last three governments in the last 12 months have been weak and fragile and the negotiation committee with the wrong attitude. The fact is, no EU nation except one could have withstood such a blow like Iceland took. The EU laws on this issue are flawed and the most normal way would be to test them in court, instead of being forced to accept something with the use of anti-terrorist laws. And that is what the people of Iceland want. That is why more then a quarter of Icelandic voters signed a petition to the president to veto the Icesave law.

A disaster for the Icelandic brand?

News in Iceland have been filled with reports saying that the president's veto has got world attention and unanimous disgrace. That is simply wrong. This has gotten little attention outside UK and the Netherlands, except in the Nordic countries. It is also wrong that it has all been negative. In the UK and the Netherlands a lot of it has been negative but that is due to political propaganda in those countries. There have also been quite a few supportive reports. The Icelandic government has been trying to correct the incorrect statements in the media explaining that we are not denying to pay, we are denying the terms and conditions.

(if the video doesn't show, you can check it out here)

In the short term, vetoing the law seems like a very bad decision. It delays big payments to Iceland from the Nordic countries and IMF, creates hostility in the UK and the Netherlands and complicates the EU application. But we can take it and in the long turn, I believe this is absolutely the right thing to do. Even Gerald van Vliet, a spokesperson for Icesave depositors in the Netherlands believes this was the right thing to do. And why would he do that? Because he wants the Icesave agreement to secure that they get their money back, not to be a punishment on the Icelandic people. The present Icesave agreement does not do that. It's also a question many ask themselves if it's realistic to demand from a nation of 300.000 people that have already lost much of their savings, to repay hundreds of thousands of depositors in UK and the Netherlands who put their savings into Dutch and British subsidiaries of Icelandic banks. This means 12.000 euros per inhabitant. We are seven in my household which means I should pay 84.000 euros "back" - money I never saw - and I've already lost all my savings because of the bank crisis. Fair? Maybe, maybe not. Realistic? NO! The Dutch people have actually started an online petition to support the Icelandic people.

The message the Icelandic president is sending out is that Iceland is not to be forced into anything. We are proud, independent people. We don't run from our legal obligations, but we demand a fair treatment from the international society. No matter how the British or Dutch politicians shout out. The least he could do is to allow the people to vote on it. I don't think that is a bad message to send out or that it will damage the image of the Icelandic people. On the contrary, if we think of the image of the Icelandic people as hard working, stubborn and proud vikings living in the world's oldest democracy, this just fits perfectly :)

People of Britain: Surrender and we will take our freezing weather back.
Best regards, Iceland. (From a friend on Facebook)

Cheers
Hjörtur

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You can't milk a dead cow!

Today it is exactly one year since I wrote my "Surreal Reykjavik", describing the feeling of being in a collapsed country. So I think it is appropriate to give you an update on live in Reykjavik, Iceland, one year after the economic collapse.

 

It's all about the money
The third government since the collapse, a left wing coallision government, seems to be about to collapse. The reason is the same in this coallition government as in many marriages - and divorces - in Iceland at the moment. Money. People can't agree on the money and on the debt. They're not satisfied with the solutions being offered. The problem is just that there are only bad options so no matter what we choose, it sucks. We just need to bite it and stick to it.

 

ICESAVE
The Icelandic banks found a great way to finance themselves. They offered superb interest on online bank accounts abroad. The only problem was that, in the case of Landsbankinn, the Icelandic government was responsible if things would go bad. And they did, and now we're left with tremendous debt to pay for banking in Britain and the Netherlands. The people in Iceland is obviously not happy to be paying when the governments in those countries were reaping the benefits but did not take any responsibility. Not only that, they also used anti-terrorist law to confiscate Icelandic banks in Britain making their assets worthless in resale. Of course we can debate on what's fair and what's not. The thing is, we are very few here in Iceland and for a nation of 300.000 to pay for a collapsed bank in a nation of 60.000.000 might be a bit difficult. The amount we are talking about is at least 1 million Icelandic krona per capita. We are a family of seven, so that leaves us with 7 million ISK or 35.000 pounds my family needs to pay, just for that one deal. That is beside everything else that we, the people in Iceland are left with to pay.

 

Our fault?
Of course we can blame ourselves. Blame us for allowing the banks to grow way beyond what the Icelandic economy could carry. But that just exactly it. There's only so much we can carry. Any attempts beyond that breaks us. We've all seen what happens then. If people are confronted with extreme demands, you'll get an extreme reaction. We all know what happened in Germany in the '30s when people couldn't pay the war debt and the economy was in ruins. They voted for someone who was willing to use extreme measures to stop it. I don't want a lunatic prime minister, but desperate people make desperate decisions.

 

Icelandic families
Twenty percent of Icelandic families can't make ends meet as is. Over 40% of Icelandic families are technically bankrupt and over 70% of companies are in serious trouble. People are struggling to keep their homes and bring food to the table. The government has announced that they are offering packages to ease some of the mortage payments so that families have a better chance of surviving. It is obvious that it doesn't benefit anyone to put 40% of homes up for auction. There's no one to buy them and people have to live somewhere.

But at the same time as the government is offering this, they are announcing higher taxes, a reduction in child support and a reduction in all sorts of other support and benefits. For my family it means that yes, we can lower our payment on the mortage, but it is nowhere near the increase in taxes and deduction in support and benefits. We are going to be paying much more than we are now.

It's just like riding a bike. If you're going up a steep hill, you need to change into a lower gear. But the government is changing into a higher gear thinking that will speed things up. And what will then happen? We come to a stop.

 

You can't milk a dead cow
It is simple. Milk it to hard and you get blood instead of milk, untill you've killed the cow. Where will you get your milk from then?

Hjörtur

(Image by Jóhann Ludwig Torfason)

I'm Not a Terrorist

Just in case anyone was in doubt. Gordon Brown may have a different opinion, but he used the UK anti-terrorist legislation to confiscate the assets of Icelandic banks in Iceland, resulting in the collapse of the two largest ones. I owned stock in the banks. But I'm not a terrorist!

The results of this act is more serious than people realize. Icelandic companies were black listed as they were all of a sudden linked to terrorist organisations (Icelandic banks). The government and all Icelandic companies lost their credit. Since then Icelanders have had to pay everything in cash up front. Our currency doesn't exist anymore on foreign trade markets and is only traded in Iceland. This has made the recession in Iceland far more serious than necessary.

My son. Does he look like a terrorist? He's not!

I know the general public abroad doesn't perceive Icelanders as terrorist. But the "system" seems to do so.

Last weekend we had elections here in Iceland, were we got to vote for the Icelandic parliament. The Icelandic parliament is the oldest democratic parliament in the world and has been operating since the year 930, when the early Viking settlers who came here to flee the Norwegian king's monopoly, established a democratic parliament to run the country. Even when Icelanders converted from paganism to Christianity, that was done by a decision at the Icelandic parliament in the year 1000. No bloodshed and no cheating.

In those 1.079 years there has never been a reason to doubt the Icelandic democracy. We do not have an army and have never had an army. In the protests and riots following the crash and leading to the fall of the government, one broken arm was all the injuries. We fought the Brits over the Icelandic fishing territories and won with out firing a single shot. Iceland has topped the list of least corruption in the world.

Yet, the OSCE has seen a reason to send a team to Iceland to monitor the Icelandic election. Of course they did not find anything out of the ordinary or suspicious. But I find the fact that they considered it necessary to send people to Iceland to monitor the Icelandic election very humiliating.

We are a proud people with a strong record of democracy, gender equality, gay rights and human rights in general. We've topped lists for best life quality, highest life expectancy, lowest rate of child death, very low crime rate, least corruption, never had an army and we do not need to be treated like terrorists. Yes, our banks collapsed, yes, they participated in the hedge craze on Wall Street and in London City, yes, the government failed to put up safe guards strong enough to resist the failure of a bank system ten times the size of the national economy. Those are bad things but do not make us terrorists or criminals. It does not justify the treatment of the nation as a second class nation ran by terrorists and hooligans who's money or credit is no good. The main reason why so many are in favour of applying for inclusion in the European Union, is to rebuild confidence in the Icelandic economy and the Icelandic government.

We still have excellent infrastructure, world class health care, excellent education system, high technology level and well educated human resources. The situation in Iceland isn't as bad as people might think, because things were so extremely good. Unemployment rate has now peaked at 8,9% which is still far less than in many of the EU countries, foreign debt has sky rocketed but was merely existent before. Our governmental institutions, our media, our freedom of speech, is still intact and uncompromised. Our main problem at the moment is the treatment we are getting abroad.

So give us a break.

Hjörtur

The Results of the Icelandic Election

The results of the Icelandic elections were clear this morning. The social democrats under the leadership of Johanna Sigurdardottir won, with 29,8% of the votes, up 3,0 points from last election in 2007. Sigurdardottir has been the prime minister for the last 84 days.

The conservatives' Independence Party lost 12,9 points and got 23,7%. They have been the largest party for decades but for the first time in the history of the Icelandic republic left parties got majority. They are being punished for the economic crash, as could be expected.

The left-green gained 7,4 points (got 21,3%) and so did a new party led by protesters (got 7,2%). The left-green formed a minority government with the social democrats 84 days ago and both parties had said they planned to continue their coalition if they got enough votes. They did.

But that doesn't necessarily mean they will form a new government. One of the social democrats biggest issue has been applying for the EU, something the left-green have strongly opposed. This is immediately causing problems in their negotiations. The social democrats are standing very strong as they are big enough to form a government with almost any party. If they can't reach an agreement with the left-green they can form a government with the conservatives. That is unlikely to happen though as they have lost a third of their following and been heavily criticized.

The third option is to create a pro-EU government with Framsoknarflokkurinn (a center party) which has been growing, and the new civil movement as all those parties favor the EU. I would be very happy to see anything else than left-green in government which have promised to lower salaries and increased taxes. However that is supposed to help the homes and companies.

We'll see what the negotiations bring and what will be the plan of the new government to help us out of the economic mess we're in. If you have any questions, shoot.

Hjörtur

Election Day in Iceland

The voting has started but I still haven't made up my mind. Should I vote crap, crap or even more crap?

I'm not the only one feeling like that. According to polls 8% plan to hand in an empty vote to object the political system. I have been considering that option too. But then again, I would like to make my vote count. There's just no good option.

Background
As you may have heard, we had an economic collapse in October when the three largest banks, and the three largest companies in Iceland went bankrupt. The currency has plummeted more than 50% and with many households financed with foreign loans, over 40% of them now owe more than they own. In the weeks following the crash no one took responsibility. No one resigned. And people got mad. Protests in the street got louder and ended in riots. This resulted in the fall of the government and the establishment of a left minority government that has been running things for the last 86 days.

Campaigns
The glass seems to be half empty. No one is offering hope. Instead they're using scare tactics where they are going to come to the rescue. "If you don't vote for us, you're screwed!" But they are having a hard time convincing people they can "rescue" them. It is obvious that the parties have had little time to do their homework, campaigns are not well thought out, little creative work has been put into the ads and it consists more of statements on what to do, then plans on how to do it.

The independence party which has been the ruling party through the whole economic upswing, the last 18 years, has changed their leader, but not much else. The focus here is on more aluminum plants to solve the unemployment and boost the economy.

They, and there fellow party, Framsoknarflokkurinn which was in government with them most of the time and is now promising 20% reduction of all debts but unclear about who will be financing that, seem to have this as their mantra.

The left parties want to increase taxes to get us out of this. When people can't make ends meet, I don't know how increased taxes will help.

The Democratic Movement wants more power to the people, with people voting online for all bigger matters and don't have an agenda, it's just personal for each and everyone. A crew where each sails in their own direction doesn't get far.

The Civil Movement has failed to be convincing and is inexperienced.

The Liberal Party wants to restructure the fishing industry and focus on manufacturing.

They all fail to provide a credible plan on how we are going to get out of the economic situation we're in. There's focus on going back 20-30 years, which obviously is a very bad idea. There's lot of talk about innovation, which is good, but doesn't give return until after 5-10 years. There's too little focus on the small companies, which after all, employ most people, and have to be guaranteed a functioning currency, a functioning bank system, and access to financing. There's also a lack of focus on the opportunities this situation brings us. The improved competitive advantage of Icelandic companies where their products and work force have now become much cheaper.

Iceland of Tomorrow
It looks like we're going to get a left government. The two party leading the minority government now have majority of the votes in polls and have said that they will continue to work together after the election, if they get the majority of the votes. The problem is the EU issue. The coalition party (democrats) wants to apply immediately for inclusion in the EU while the Left-Green party does not want to do that. That will be the big issue when they form a new government.

A lot of voters are still indecisive. People are feeling they only have bad options, and people and parties they have lost confident in. I have a feeling the center/right parties will get a larger portion of the indecisive votes and will therefore become stronger than polls indicate. I'll write an update in the morning and let you know how it goes.

The flag is raised, the sun is shining. It'll still be a good day :)

Hjörtur

Life in Recession Struck Iceland

I'm being asked by both my friends abroad and the media, what life is like in Iceland. Vanity Fair gave their version of the story, a rather negative picture. Unfortunately, though there are some wrongs in the article, there are too many rights. But here's a little insider information on life in Iceland at the moment, the psychological state of a nation that went from being the richest in the world to economic ruins over night. And the for the public, it really did happen over night.

The Psychology of the Society
I think the emotional pattern we've been going through here in Iceland is similar to mourning. At first we were in disbelieve. Could this be for real? Were the banks, our pride and "idols" really turned into dust over night? Were our prodigies just fake from the beginning?

What would all this mean for the rest of us? This came as a tremendous shock to the general public and for weeks pretty much nothing happened here in Iceland. People were in a state of shock, paralyzed, afraid of what was going to happen. It didn't matter if people still had money or not, they didn't dare to spend anything or to make any decisions.

Reykjavik. The cranes have stopped. On the right is the national concert and conference center, designed by Olafur Eliasson, still uncertain if or when it will be finished.

When people got over the shock, it was replaced with anger by many, specially people who never enjoyed the affluence of other Icelanders, who could not drive expensive cars, live in big houses and live like kings, but were yet the ones who were left with the bill, inflation of 18%, outlook for unprecedented unemployment rates and foreign debt that is going to be a burden on the whole society for generations. It is still unclear how much the debt is, but it looks like it will be over $30.000 USD per each and every person in the country. I have 5 children so that equals over $200.000 for my family.

In the new year, we have those who are in depression (who have themselves lost their job) and others who are determined to work their way out of this. Universities, companies, investors and individuals are trying to create a fertile ground for creativity and innovation. Extra funding has been provided both for early startups as well as startups that are ready to go to market. What we are seeing is that the strongest companies in Iceland today are companies that are based on intelligence and creativity, companies like Lazy Town, CCP (the computer games company behind EVE online), Marel (food processing technology), other high tech and biotech companies and even artists such as Bjork, SigurRós, the author Arnaldur Indridason and more. All having a unique product that can be sold world wide and bring in very needed foreign currency. Creating a new company gives hope of something new that can be built up. And hope is something people really need to get through this. Recession is a time of new opportunities and new beginnings. The challenge is to see those opportunities and grab them.

The dirt is slowly being dug up. What we were made to believe were companies built on a new brilliant Icelandic business model driven by young, fast and clever people who were quick to make decisions, flexible and didn't let any old school protocols stop them, turns out to have been driven by greed and denial to the vulnerability of the business model and inexperience of the leaders. Foreign critics were accused of misinformation and envy.

My Reality
I bought it all, I participated in the craze, buying stocks in the banks and making good money from it, defending our system and criticizing those who "couldn't stand the success of this little nation". Today, that leaves me with shame. A shame for backing up the people who now leaves us in ruins and feeling like a fool for buying into this. And angry for the government and the central bank for allowing the bank system to grow to more than 10 times the size of our GDP risking that if the banks failed, they (we, the people) might have to pay it back. But that would never happen. I mean what was the chance of all three banks going bankrupt within one week? Unthinkable. But still, it happened.

Luckily, I did not borrow money to buy stocks, like many others did. I was not in heavy foreign debt like many others are. So I might survive this. But technically, a large percentage of Icelandic families and companies are bankrupt, with much higher debt than assets. The problem is, if the banks would confiscate it all, they wouldn't get any money at all. So the government is trying to create a system that helps families overcome their debt by changing their loans. It will take decades to pay it up. Many families are now stuck in debt for the rest of their lives.

I moved back to Iceland in 2005. Built a house that was valued for $1M when it was done. It looked as if it was a great move, to come to Iceland. Now, we're stuck here. Because of the crash of the currency and the falling real estate market, I might get $400.000 for my house now, wiping out most of my investment in the house. If it was at all possible to sell it. And just this morning, the remaining 0,2% of my stock vanished when the fourth bank was nationalized.

This is the grim reality of Iceland today. On the other hand, things are not as bad in general as people abroad imagine. We do have all necessities. We can get oil, medicine, bread, milk and fruits in the shops. We have plenty of electricity and heat as we produce it all from domestic renewable energy sources. We only use oil on transportation and we have enough oil for that too. Over 90% are still employed - and getting paid. We have good infrastructure, good health care, good education system. A few months ago we had the best living standard in the world. But we do rely heavily on imports and imported goods are very expensive now. And the variety we can choose from is much less than it was. The food basket is now 34% more expensive than it was 10 months ago.

As you know if you've been reading my blog, I wrote a book on recession marketing. I have also been speaking on the issue and running courses which are becoming increasingly popular. People are also realizing that the biggest opportunities in marketing are in Internet Marketing, which means that my service is in higher demand. This is all very good news for me. But foreign projects are still what I'm looking for, as getting paid in foreign currency is much better then our Krona. I've even had opportunities to speak abroad, but as much as I would love to travel the world and speak, I can't do it for free :)

Vanity Fair - Wall Street on the Tundra
Journalist Michael Lewis wrote an article for Vanity Fair about Iceland and the collapse. It's in general a negative image of Icelanders and my fellow country men are not happy about it, pointing out some misinformation and misunderstandings. Just like we usually do when someone criticizes us. The Icelandic attitude is that they're always wrong 'cause we're simply the best in the world (we constantly try to convince us of that). Just look at all the "per capita" world records we hold. We have Nobel Prize winners, Olympic medalist, Grammy winners, Oscar nominees, have the most cars, drink the most Coca Cola, have the most over prized Big Mac, the world's strongest men and the world's most beautiful women etc. Yes, we do have things we can still be proud off, but despite all that, we are not above criticism. There's a lot that can be better in Iceland and for many parts, the critic in the Vanity Fair article is correct. That's maybe the problem. It hit's a soft spot. What I don't like though in the article is the notion that Iceland is a sexist country, where men run the show. It's not. Surely, some professions are dominated by one sex over the other and the investment banking was one of them. But in general, gender equality is very good, though it can always be better. The now minister of education even managed to get me to play with Barbie once, the only time I did so (but please, don't tell anyone ;).

The head of the National bank is said to be a poet and the minister of finance a vet. True. Now we have a new government where the Prime Minister is a stewardess and the minister of finance is a geologist. So we're no better off regarding academic training of our leaders. There will be an election on April 25th and people were hoping for some new, fresh and qualified people. Unfortunately, politics is not the most appealing carrier at the moment and not many brave enough to take on the enormous task waiting the new government.

Returning to old values is becoming a trend. Fish has become significantly cheaper. Fishing has become significantly more important, like it always used to be. Aluminum seems to be the hope of many still, though the aluminum prices have dropped and aluminum has already become too big of a portion of Icelandic economy, not to mention pollution. We are going whaling again. But that's survival, not restoration.

 
Hvalur 8, a whaling ship being prepared to go back on sea after 20 years tied to dock.

Innovation
We do have talented people and as I mentioned earlier, our talents and mind power are now our biggest asset. The government has been starting some initiatives to spark more innovation and help prosperous companies to market. Reykjavik University together with the Icelandic Academy for the Arts is also creating a venue leading together creatives and business minded people. Part of that project is a local physical location, a meeting place where people can seek advice and shelter for their start-ups and innovation projects in Iceland. The other part of the project is an International online social network for innovators where they can seek advice and support for their ideas and innovations, find partners and even capital. I'm leading the online project and will let you know when it goes live.

The grass root has been active too, and every Saturday, the "ministry of ideas" meets to discuss different aspects of the innovation and start-up process. Those meetings have been very popular and very fruitful for those participating.

Innovation is good and definitely the right way to go. But let's not forget that it usually takes years before start-ups start generating some real income. So getting present start-up companies to market should also be a priority.

The Land of Opportunities
Don't sign off Iceland. We've had setbacks before. We have a lot of talent, intelligence and experience that will be directed in new directions now and I believe we will work our way out of this fast. While we are in this economic situation, there are some great opportunities for foreigners.

Since all infrastructure is functioning and your safety not jeopardized in any way, Iceland has become a very hot spot for tourists in the recession. You can get better deals than ever before because of the fall of the Krona and many are grabbing that opportunity.

Venture capitalists also see opportunities in the blooming innovation culture here in Iceland, where highly educated people can now work for half the wages they could a year ago (calculated in Dollars). That means development cost just got significantly reduced and the competitiveness of Icelandic companies on the International market drastically improved.

Icelandic export products, Icelandic art and design and the Icelandic horse are all selling well now, since they too are only half price compared to a year ago. This means many export branches are growing fast now. We still have a bright future, though the days are dark at the moment.

So if you need any help in finding opportunities in Iceland during the recession, just let me know.

Cheers
Hjörtur