Big legacy lives on in Dubai spin doctor’s memorial scholarship

It is nearly two years since Dave Robinson, who ran the Hill & Knowlton communications business in this region and beyond, sadly and prematurely passed away.

A great many people, myself included, still miss Dave immensely. Literally a “larger than life character” – a big man with a big appetite for everything – his wisdom and guidance are remembered with fondness everywhere, as well as the rip-roaring night out in his company that would always leave you a better-informed journalist. He had a great knack of mixing work with pleasure, using social occasions to brief and get across his clients’ message. It was spin-doctoring of the most subtle and enjoyable kind.

So I’m pleased to be able to report that his colleagues at H&K (now properly called Hill + Knowlton Strategies), have come up with a fitting way to remember the big man. The Dave Robinson International Scholarship is up and running, and one of the first to benefit is a person from the region, Ahmed Alshariqi, a young executive from H&K’s Bahrain office.

The idea is that each year a number of employees from H&K’s worldwide network are selected to work in an office of their choice for three months to broaden their knowledge of the public relations business and give them a taste of mind-expanding foreign culture.

It is doubly fitting to put Dave’s imprimatur on the scheme. Something of a citizen of the world, he believed passionately in the need to learn from other cultures and the beneficial effect of seeing how things are done in other places.

One of my most memorable occasions with Dave was at a World Economic Forum event in Istanbul, where we were chatting over coffee in the lobby of a hotel. His phone rang, and he broke off our conversation with a “I have to take this” before answering the call and talking in his booming voice … in fluent Greek. The mainly Turkish lobby stopped to look around to see who the stranger was in their midst.

He spoke other languages, too – Italian, French, some Turkish and Arabic, and was genuinely comfortable when presented by a strange new culture or situation.

Mr Alshariqi seems to share those values, though he hasn’t had much of a chance yet. Aged 25, he has not travelled outside the GCC region, so Brussels will be an eye-opener for him. “I wanted to experience different cultures. They say that if you spend 40 days in a foreign culture you become part of that culture,” he explains.

Why Brussels? “I could have chosen the USA or other places, but Brussels is the de facto capital of the euro zone, and I want to see how they do things differently there. I hope to learn how to handle public affairs in a different, maybe more evolved way, and Brussels seemed the best place to do it. Anything I learn I hope I’ll be able to bring back to the Gulf and apply it here.”

Sconaid McGeachin, who took over Dave’s regional role, says: “Ahmed is a rising star, and Dave was always a great believer in spotting and nurturing talent, so it’s completely appropriate he won the scholarship.”

Dave was also a great believer in the power of the lead rock guitar and the beauty of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, but Mr Alshariqi says he has no current plans to take up either.

Shame. I think a bit of rock and a burn-up in the desert would be equally fitting tributes to Dave.

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