Close to 80 early-birds from three of the Nordic countries met at Norway House for morning coffee and networking, when the Danish-, Swedish- and Norwegian-American Chambers of Commerce arranged a conference for Scandinavian businesses in Houston. This was the first time the three Chambers of Commerce arranged a joint event. It was also the opening get-together in a series of gatherings aimed at promoting greater cooperation and a gathering of resources between the three neighbouring nations’ businesses abroad. Specifically, the areas of shipping and energy are focal points.
The Norwegian Consul General, Jostein Mykletun, introduced the event with the words, “Scandinavia is borderless as far as I’m concerned”. The newly opened Danish-American Chamber of Commerce (DACC) was the initiator of the event and in addition to arranging for breakfast, DACC invited speakers from C4 Dynamics and TR Moore & Co. The speaker from C4 Dynamics stressed the importance of constant learning, development and flexibility, and the speakers from TR Moore & CO talked about considerations to have when extending one’s business to foreign countries. Vice Consul of DACC, Anna Holiday, expressed her enthusiasm after the morning conference with the words “[Det gik] rigtigt, rigtigt godt!” which in English translates to “[It went] very, very well!” According to Mrs. Holliday, the purpose of the joint events is networking, and in that regard, the morning session was a great kick-off.
The Chambers’ long-term goal is to arrange get-togethers like this a few times each year. The next meeting, which tentatively is planned for Fall 2012, will be hosted by the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC). NACC’s Executive Director, Anne-Brith Berge, supported the DACC during the breakfast. She was happy with the speakers at the session, especially the one from C4 Dynamics, who focused on change and development. In recognition of this, she stated that it is central to “keep afloat and follow the development – especially the technological. Therefore, people need more instruction and education, even when they get older.” However, the next event will be less about inspiration and learning, and more about socializing and networking, the Executive Director said.