Claus's Blog

I’m currently in this very large silver tube hurtling from Tokyo to San Francisco. It’s that 10-hour flight that seems like 40 hours, especially when the person in front of me just jerked their seat back and almost snapped off my laptop screen. If you’re reading this, please, in the future, make that a gradual maneuver!!

So, I was in Japan for a number of reasons all related to attending the Hitachi uVALUE convention (or as we’ve come to call them in the US, “conference”) held at the Tokyo International Forum, an amazing complex. This yearly conference of Hitachi Ltd. typically draws 35,000, but since this is the 100th anniversary of Hitachi, 50,000 attendees are expected.

I helped host (with Michael Hay, who’s also blogged on this) about 25 analysts, bloggers, and media folk for the event, and we all had (almost) front row seats for the keynote address by Hiroaki Nakanishi, Hitachi’s president. Surrounded by about 5,000 of our closest friends, we listened to Nakanishi-san talk about the history of Hitachi and what’s in store for the next 100 years (seriously, how many technology companies do you know that can plan for their second century?). In his keynote he focused on just a few key products within a portfolio that spans 900 product lines and over 20,000 products. Among those highlighted as broad successes within the company’s products were the bullet train (how can you not be proud of something that can carry well over a thousand people at 240 mph without leaving the ground!), and HDS, as shown in this photo. As we all should know, HDS has become a spectacular success story for Hitachi, and it’s great to see that being recognized.

But the part I enjoyed the most was the interaction with the media, bloggers, and analysts we were hosting. Some I have been speaking with for years, and it was great to actually meet them face-to-face, have dinner together (including some delicious sea urchin), share a few drinks and stories, and expand our collective LinkedIn and Facebook lists.

Much has already been blogged, written, and tweeted on this event, with more to come, but represented in this group were Russia, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Japan, U.S., India, Australia, Italy, and few other countries. It was truly like being in a meeting with the United Nations, but discussing more fun stuff like storage. Nuclear non-proliferation was not discussed once, trust me on this one.

So to all that joined us, I say “thank you” for your time. Let’s not wait another 100 years to do this again. And to Hitachi Ltd., Happy Anniversary!!!