Mayhem Participate in B.I.G. Dinner
September 22, 2015 - SPHL (SPHL)
Macon Mayhem News Release
The "Big Dinner" as in - Britain, Ireland and the state of Georgia - took place at the Mandarinrestaurant on Riverside Drive in Macon the evening of Sept. 15 in a display of hospitality for out-of-town guests including Shane Stephens, the consul general of Ireland for the Southeast.
Hosted the evening of Sept. 15 by Chris Smith, an attorney and the honorary consul of Denmark who lives in Macon, among the guests were Ember Bishop, the deputy commissioner for international relations at the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and Niki Mullin, the development manager for London-based LID Publishing, which publishes business books and magazines.
Ms. Mullin visited Macon at the invitation of Mr. Smith who has been published in her company's magazine Dialogue Review and is a speaker listed on the LID global speakers bureau.
Before the evening event was over she learned about the city's musical history including the careers ofOtis Redding, the Allman Brothers Band and others.
She also had the opportunity to meet Chuck Leavell, a frequent world traveler as keyboardist for theRolling Stones and other artists as well as a solo performer. In addition, Mr. Leavell is a well-known conservationist who maintains with his wife, Rose Lane, a 2,900-acre tree plantation in Dry Branch.
Ms. Bishop had recently returned an official state promotion tour of eight days in China and five days in Japan. She briefed the guests on her department's efforts to increase inbound investment to Georgia as well as increase the state's exports. In addition, she said that she would be working closely with the Atlanta-based consular corps and binational chambers in generating business for the state, and added that Georgia would be represented at the Dubai Airshow to be held Nov. 8-12.
Although she has accompanied Gov. Nathan Deal's wife, Sandra, on many international trips before as Mrs. Deal's chief of staff, she said that her culinary experiences on this trip were extraordinary. As proof, she showed a smartphone photo of a fish she was offered that had teeth that would make any carnivorous mammal proud.
Mr. Stephens, who assumed his position as consul general based in Atlanta in July, invited the guests to visit Ireland next year on Sept. 3 when the Georgia Institute of Technology football team will play its first match outside of the U.S. against Boston College in the Air Lingus Classic to be held at Dublin'sAviva Stadium.
Mr. Stephens also read Irish poet W. B. Yeats poem "Easter, 1916" both in celebration of the 150thanniversary of the poet's birth and because next year Ireland will be recognizing the 100th anniversary of its uprising against British colonial rule.
With Ms. Mullin sitting nearby when he delivered his remarks, he spoke of the diversity of attitudes and experiences that separated the Irish at the time, with many fighting in World War I as part of the British Army while others participated in the Easter uprising.
Mr. Stephens said that Ireland is still coming to terms with its past though he maintained that positive relations existed with Britain today, but added that the Maconites at the dinner would be sensitive to such a range of feelings because of the U.S. experience in the Civil War.
Macon-based and other Georgia companies and organizations also represented at the dinner includedKumho Tire USA, Dinex Emission Inc., Properties Plus Realty, YKK USA Inc., the Macon Mayhemhockey team, Nu-Vision Ministries, African Specialty Imports, the Macon Economic DevelopmentCommission, SunTrust Bank, Macon-Bibb Industrial Authority, Georgia Orthotics and Prosthetics,
Georgia State Auto Insurance, the Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism, Shelley Kyle Perfumes, Thornton Realty, and Talking Tech.
Dr. Bruce S. Allen, honorary consul of the Principality of Liechtenstein; William Fickling III, manager of Executive Homes of Georgia LLC, Athens-based artist Stan Mullins; Solange Warner, founder of the World Chamber of Commerce; Carsten Rosendahl, the Atlanta-based Danish trade commissioner; the author Rick Hutto, who also serves a director of global initiatives for Central Georgia Technical College, Keith Hanson of Dublin Construction Co. and Frank Horne, attorney.
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