Lost in translation

Charles Versaggi is an interesting man. He's charming, he knows a thing or two about communications and he has a good sense of humor. That whole mix made him the perfect director for our first bootcamp.

And so it was, as I'm learning from the participants feedback. Alas, I couldn't make it to Varese. However, he shared a note with me today that gave me the whole picture of what I missed.

This goes under the category of Italians meet Americans, and vice-versa.
I thought I'd share it with you all.
Here it comes:

"Marco, I thought I'd share a couple of funny moments from the bootcamp.

One of the business plan presentations concerned a web-based business to help people with common sports interests find each other online.

The first slide of his B-plan presentation: "Stop Playing With Yourself!"

The class roared. The class roared again after I said, "Well, there's really no reason why you shouldn't play with yourself. But that's really your business."

It's amazing what a well placed preposition can do for communication.

Another one that got a few laughs. One of the life science participants presented his business plan for a new type of implantable bladder sphincter. His first slide showed a picture of the male anatomy with the sphincter apparatus placed strategically around a massive disproportionately large penis that hung down to the bottom of the slide. The apparatus looked more like a device to treat erectile dysfunction. I swear he got this image from a porn site (now, of course, you're wondering how I knew that...).

There were a few blushed faces on the women in the classroom, although they didn't seem too shocked. You got to love Europeans when it comes to celebrating the human anatomy."

Right Charles, you gotta love "Europeans"...