1966 – A VERY BUSY YEAR #44

They say that time flies, when you're busy. That must be true, because 1966 sure went fast. I really enjoyed having my own district and seeing it grow. I was very fortunate that I met many business people who helped me, many of whom also became friends. One of these people was Mr. Bill Von Weiler, a retired Dutchman who I met when he came into my office in regard to a trip to the Netherlands. Knowing that I was new to Detroit, he took it upon himself to introduce me to various people he thought I should know. He was a past President of the Detroit Rotary Club and took me to a Rotary Club luncheon. I became a member of Rotary and am still a member up to today. I am currently a life member of the Rotary Club of Marathon, in the heart of the Florida Keys; more about the Rotary, in future blogs.

One of the highlights of 1966 was my success and good luck of increasing the Dutch Immigrant Society charters from two to four, per year. Other Memories of the year follow.

All the major foreign airlines as well as Delta, United, and other domestic airlines, decided to form a Detroit Airline Managers Association where members had a place where we could all discuss common local problems. I was elected the first President of the association.

I was invited to join the Detroit Press Club. Since most of the Airline Managers handled local promotions and advertising, the Press Club felt we were eligible for membership.

Roger Ackley decided to hold our regional meeting in Miami. Our District Managers from Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Cincinnati, along with their salesmen also attended. In addition, Fritz Kielman, Luke Asjes and nine department heads from New York participated. Those were five days of everybody learning about the various departments of KLM and the assistance they can give the people in the field. We were also updated on KLM's goals and ambitions for its future.

My son Kirby and I, along with Roger Ackley and his son, went on a weekend fishing trip at International Falls, Minnesota. We fished the Thousand Lakes area that goes up into Canada. We had a houseboat and an Indian guide. We caught many walleyes, cooked them onboard and had a wonderful time. Kirby and I still talk about it today.

In December, KLM wanted me to attend a three week Management Training Program in Windsor, England. There were 12 of us to attend. Managers from India, Egypt, Holland, England, Norway, Germany, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Poland and Curacao were also going to participate. The course was to be given by Urwick Or, a British management training organization. It was three weeks of intensive instruction, solving many different management problems, roll playing, etc. One rather interesting way they presented a lesson was to put all of us in a room. In the center of the room was a very large table; in the center of the table was a pile of sand. There were small models of hotels, factories, houses, animals, trucks etc. There were also long plastic, curved and straight pieces that represented rivers and roads. Around the room were windows where people outside the room, could observe what was going on in the room. Our instructions were to construct a make believe town on a river, with factories where the people would work. Play grounds for children, and small farms. That was it. We could have all the time we needed, and then the instructor left us standing in the room.

At first, everyone just looked at each other. Then someone says "Let's go" and the building begins. The one, who said "let's go", said "let's put the houses here, the river here "etc. Someone else says no! The houses should go over there, next to the factory where the people will work. Someone else says no! The people wouldn't want to live next to a factory. Someone else chimed in with his idea. Well, you get the idea. Eventually, one or two get together and make a land plan. The whole project is to see how some people are leaders and some are followers. It was a lesson in how to determine those who are natural leaders and who take over to get the project done. It was all very interesting; at the end of the three weeks, everyone got a certificate of completion. No one received a report card; these were sent to the home office in the Netherlands.

During the course, one other event that I will always remember is when we were all asked how we would go about developing more business. They gave an example of a large company that had a great deal of air freight business. We were meeting with the Freight Manager and the teacher wanted to know how we would approach him in an effort to get his business? Each of us gave an off the cuff idea as to how we would ask for the business. It was going very well until the Manager from the Egypt office had his turn to offer how he would ask for the business. In a very serious way, he offered his sales pitch. He would ask the Freight Manager, "Would your wife like a nice fur coat?" The Egypt manager couldn't understand why we were all laughing so hard. Apparently he thought that this was a perfectly good way to get business. KLM is such a straight laced Company, I doubt the Egypt Manager survived.

Being in England in December was a wonderful experience. We were put up at the White Swan Hotel, in Windsor. From my window I could see Windsor Castle. The town of Windsor was resplendent with Christmas decorations; I couldn't help but think of Charles Dickens Christmas story. The local pubs were a far cry from U.S. Bars. There were lots of toasts and songs, and in the streets, people hurrying through the snow. I had the happy feeling of being privy to an English Christmas.

As I flew home, I had time to contemplate the past year and look forward to 1967.