Azerbaijan Business Trip Report [Part 1] – Off to Azerbaijan with the Free-Spirited Sunny-Side Up President

It has been a while. I am Ryuta Hattori from the President’s Office.

This time, I accompanied the sunny-side up president on her business trip to Azerbaijan.
Following the previous New York trip, I will deliver another chaotic report.

Are you familiar with the country of Azerbaijan?
It is a country facing the Caspian Sea, located at the junction of Europe and Asia, long known as an oil city, and about one-quarter the size of Japan.
At the end of last year, an email arrived at the company.
It was an inquiry from the PR Association of Azerbaijan, asking if President Tsugihara could speak as a guest speaker at the first international PR conference to be held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Apparently, PR is a popular profession for women in Azerbaijan, and the request was for her to speak about Japanese PR as a female president.

In recent years, SUNNY SIDE UP has won numerous overseas business awards, and our international recognition has grown considerably. Recently, we have been receiving such welcome inquiries more frequently.

Me: “President, we received an inquiry from an Azerbaijan PR organization inviting you as a guest speaker!”
Tsugihara: “No way.”

Instant rejection. My mistake was approaching her when she was busy. I am already accustomed to such responses at times like this. Without being discouraged, I wait a while and restart negotiations as if nothing happened.

Me: “President, we received an inquiry from an Azerbaijan PR organization inviting you as a guest speaker!”
Tsugihara: “Oh, really?” (I told you this before!)
“Where is Azerbaijan?” (I told you this before!)
She seems to have completely forgotten about our previous conversation. That is Tsugihara.

Me: “It is at the border of Europe and Asia. This is a great honor. The first international PR conference held in Azerbaijan. SUNNY SIDE UP is the only company from Japan. Furthermore, PR industry professionals from 17 countries worldwide will gather as guest speakers, making it ideal for networking with overseas PR professionals and an excellent opportunity to promote SUNNY SIDE UP within the industry. Let’s go and promote Japanese PR!”
Tsugihara: “Hmm, I’m not good with public speaking.” (Who is she kidding?)

A few days later, Tsugihara suddenly said she would go. When I asked why she changed her mind, it turned out that a certain PR promotion she had been benchmarking for several years and mentioning repeatedly was apparently conducted by an Azerbaijani mobile carrier, and remembering this suddenly motivated her to go.

“Blood donors increased by 335% in one month! A charging cable that ‘shares smartphone battery power'”
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=8eSkHeTIhS0

And then, meat.
Food is a major factor in raising Tsugihara’s spirits. I secretly sent her this website as well, knowing that Tsugihara, who proudly represents carnivores, would appreciate it.
Image source: https://czudamiki.exblog.jp/24994197/

This was probably quite effective as well.
So, to fulfill my public relations duties, I ended up going to Azerbaijan together with her.

Tsugihara, who would come to Azerbaijan directly from the PyeongChang Olympics trip without returning to Japan, and I, heading from Tokyo, arranged to meet at the Baku departure gate in Dubai, our connecting city. I found Tsugihara. She was waving her hand high, signaling “Over here!” to me. Her hand was pink and had a strange shape. I was stunned.
At the Dubai airport, she was operating her smartphone with these bizarre devices attached to her fingertips.

Me: “What are you doing!? What is that?”
Tsugihara: “Oh, this? I bought this at a 100-yen shop! It’s amazing! Super convenient!”

She was spreading her hands and bragging loudly, so everyone around was staring at Tsugihara’s hands.

Tsugihara: “I was too busy to get my nails done, so I painted my nails during the transit.
But with these on, I can work right away. Super convenient. Want to try?”
Me: “No, thank you.”

Apparently, those objects were nail covers to put on fingertips after applying nail polish.
However, even if convenient, is it necessary to use them in such a public place?
In the first place, are there women who paint their own nails on airport benches during transit? She is far from the female celebrity presidents you see in magazines…

I wanted to make various comments, but since she was bragging with such a proud face, I just nodded.
“Looks good. Seems convenient.”

And we safely arrived in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. As expected of an oil kingdom. The airport is modern and glamorous.

When we got off the plane, we encountered a group of Arabs with falcons on their arms.
I noticed the falcons and turned around to tell Tsugihara, but she was already talking to them.
Tsugihara: “Why do you have falcon?”
No one answered. But Tsugihara would not give up.
Tsugihara: “Why do you have falcon?? Why? Why?”
She is persistent. However, no matter how many times she asked, no one answered. They just smiled awkwardly.

Me: “Look, they clearly don’t understand you. You’re bothering them. Please give up. Now, our ride is here, so let’s go.”
However, Tsugihara did not seem convinced at all.

Tsugihara: “I’m curious! I can’t help being curious! Hey, why aren’t you curious!? Dozens of Arabs came out of the plane with falcons! Normally you’d be dying of curiosity! How can you be so calm!”
She was getting angry at me instead.

While being grumbled at, I pulled Tsugihara away, left the falcon group behind, passed through immigration, and picked up our luggage at baggage claim.
Finally, we got our luggage, and when I turned around, Tsugihara was gone again.
Found her.

She was interviewing the Arabs with falcons, just like a reporter on an information program.
She was even taking commemorative photos.
Apparently, she finally found someone who spoke English and was able to learn the reason for the falcons.

It turns out that wealthy people from Dubai bring their own falcons on board (falcons apparently have passports too), and during their holidays, they come to Azerbaijan to train them. Since alcohol is permitted in this country, Arab men come here with their falcons and enjoy their vacation. That was the reason.

An astonishing sight.
Image source: https://www.excite.co.jp/News/world_clm/20170131/Techinsight_20170131_345988.html

Having learned the secret of the falcons, I loaded the now-quiet and satisfied Tsugihara into the car, and we headed to the international PR conference venue.

To be continued in Part 2.