Ron Gifford's (boringly titled) Blog

If you've spent any time around a swimming pool and kids, you know that inevitably you're going to start hearing "Marco . . . . Polo . . . . Marco . . . . Polo." You know how it goes: one kid closes her eyes while the other kids swim away, and then starts yelling "Marco" in hopes that she can blindly find her buddies as they practice water-ventriloquism while shouting "Polo."

The real Marco Polo, of course, helped introduce Europeans to central Asia and China in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The Venetian explorer Polo spent 24 years in Asia, and the anecdotes of his adventures were catalogued in the popular book, The Travels of Marco Polo.

So what does the children's pool game have to do with the intrepid explorer and trader? I have no clue. Can't really get a definitive answer on that one (although someone in northern Indiana claims to have invented the game in the 1960's).

But here's something I do know: When you go on a business development trip to China, you really want to be more like the merchants of Venice than the kids in the pool. I suppose you could wander around the country, blindly calling out for deals, hoping to hear a lucky response that would give you something  to take home other than nice pictures of yourself at the Great Wall. But that doesn't seem to be such a good strategy.

So here's the plan as I join Governor Daniels on the state's trade and investment trip to China and Japan, starting tomorrow. In addition to attending several of the substantive meetings and networking events that the state has lined up, I'm going to be meeting separately with Chinese business leaders, investment consultants, development companies, and venture capitalists to talk about business opportunities in our region. We've done our homework and know exactly who we're going to talk to.

My goal is straightforward: target those Chinese business sectors that are on the verge of making significant investments in the United States -- think automotive and life sciences, for starters -- and look for opportunities to work together to establish relationships in China and Indiana. This trip is all about building "guanxi" -- relationships.

I'll be blogging about my meetings, our experiences, our reactions, and whatever else seems appropriate to share. It's my first trip to Asia, which is very exciting, and I promise to avoid most  activities that could create international incidents. And as if that's not enough, I'm going to be tweeting my way through it all:  you can follow me at twitter.com/RDGifford.

We leave Indianapolis at 1:22 p.m. on Saturday, and after a short layover in Detroit, take to the air for 14.5 hours until we land in Shanghai at 7:00 p.m. Sunday evening (7:00 a.m. Sunday for those of you staying here).  As I told my kids, I'm going to the future. And I'm taking two suitcases, but not a single swimsuit. No pool games on this trip for me.