Guy Gadney versus the volcano: From MIPTV to Race Around The World

With flights in Europe cancelled because of the Icelandic volcano, Australians attending MIPTV in Cannes are among those  facing gruelling journeys. In this guest posting, AIMIA president Guy Gadney shares his adventures

It is natural that a major natural thump like a volcano should have a knock-on effect on reality. As news spread through the annual MIPTV conference, panic responses became evident from execs who the day before had been the most confident television folk in the world. This is my story.  

The first surreal moment happened striaght away. I was in the shower after a heavy night networking and drinking rose wine. (Aside: I never drink rose unless I am in France, and then I only drink rose. I do not smoke unless I am in Cannes when I smoke Gauloises Blonde like a… well, volcano). In the shower the soap dish was at eye level and so directly in front of me was the small hotel bottle of shampoo. On the back in large letters was the command “Avoid eye contact”. I instinctively turned away to stop looking at it and got out of the shower. I gave the bottle a quick sideways glance uneasily as I left my room, and deadlocked the door.

Out in the Palais des Festivals, it was dawning that having the whole of UK airspace closed was going to impact everyone. This appeared to be a major issue for most people who absolutely had to get to other conferences, meetings, loved ones, dinners in other countries. I tried to reassure them that actually these were not that important in the grander scheme of things, and that a volcano erupting and covering most of northern Europe’s stratosphere with a sulfuric cloud was probably a valid excuse. I was also still preoccupied that a small bottle of shampoo had instructed me to stop looking at it, and so a volcano erupting was just another surreal thing to add to the list.