As we approach Thanksgiving, I have so much to be grateful for. As I think about family and friends throughout the world, I am touched by how warmly we have been welcomed by so many in our village of Lutry, colleagues at IMD in Lausanne, and in the larger region of Lake Geneva and the Jura Alps. Last weekend we went to a house warming party for Nane and Kofi Annan where we saw old friends and met new ones. We had dinner with our neighbors Christiane and Jacques-Andre Conne civic leaders in our community. This weekend, we spent a wonderful day with the entire extended family – Janine and Rancois Foucher, Regine, Olivier, Camille, Estelle and Clement Rouge, Marine, Tessa, Nathalie and Phillipe Pilet – from whom we are renting our apartmentat at their vineyard of the Rouge family for four generations sharing fondue, wine and conversation in French and English.
Earlier, our friend Ambassador Betty King, who represents the US at the UN in Geneva, held a dinner party to welcome us to which she invited our friends Konji Sebati, Youssef Dib and Anne de La Rochefoucauld. Shortly after that we visited my IMD colleague Jacques Horowitz at his winery La Maison du Moulin Reverolle. We recently watched a parade with the children of the Lutry, especially looking for Helena and Jessica, the daughters of other neighbor/friends Philip and Ulla Schneider.
New friends Eli de Frand and Joyce Miller, who lead the Capacity Building Resource Exchange CAPRESE had us for dinner at their home in Aubonne. Before that we so enjoyed sharing with many of our neighbors Lutry’s wonderful Fête des Vendages and the Lausanne Marathon that went right through our street. And several of our friends from different parts of the world already have visited us here, most recently Daisy Khan.
From the personal to the professional, we are living a rich life, including having just participated in a terrific IMD CEO Roundtable with 70 CEOs from around the world. One of my friends Ping Fu, Geomagic CEO, did a webcast from the Roundtable that will be available soon. With each experience, I come to more fully appreciate how utterly interconnected all of us are and how critical it is for us to nourish and cherish the bonds of trust we create. 
