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IMD
18 July 2007 - FALKLANDS VETERAN PROVES TO BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TEAM
It has been a busy couple of weeks for Integral Mobile Data (IMD) Director and Falklands Veteran Philip Neame. As well as taking part in a commemorative ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falklands battle, Philip helped the parent company of Cwmbran based mobile computing specialists, IMD, – the OLM Group – to a creditable 67th out of 122 teams in their first attempt at the notorious Microsoft Challenge 2007. Philip Neame, who commanded D Company 2 PARA during the Falklands War and fought at Goose Green and Wireless Ridge, attended the MoD sponsored ceremony in London on June 17th to mark the 25th Anniversary of the end of the conflict. Over 10,000 Falkland Veterans and their families assembled on Horse Guards Parade for a traditional “Drumhead” ceremony. The service was followed by a Veterans March Past for a Royal Salute accompanied by Military Escort with Massed Bands down the Mall to Buckingham palace. A 49-ship 'Fly Past’ of military aircraft flew over London to then bring a close to the commemorative events. The personal recollections of the veterans were central to the event held in London. As well as recently speaking to the Law Society with two other military commanders about the Falklands battle, Philip was also interviewed for the event by noted Falkland’s correspondent, Brain Hanrahan, and was given the opportunity to reminisce and share his experiences of Goose Green and Wireless Ridge. Attendees included members of the royal family and senior political and military figures past and present including, HRH The Prince of Wales, The Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher, and Falklands Military commanders. Following the events Philip Neame commented, “The events were an important opportunity for us, not just to commemorate the 25th Anniversary but also to remember our lost comrades. The highlights of the day for me were the cheers for Baroness Thatcher from members of 2 PARA, and her coming straight over to speak with us about our experiences at the end of the ceremony. That meant a lot, and it will be a memory that I treasure.” Less than a week later and Philip was called upon by the OLM Group as the IMD representative in the team entered for the Microsoft Challenge UK due to his military experience. The Microsoft Challenge UK is Europe’s largest and most exciting inter-company challenge where participating teams compete to win the coveted Microsoft Challengers Trophy and raise money for the NSPCC. Designed to challenge participants both mentally and physically - competitors can find themselves running, mountain biking, canoeing, scaling cliffs, tackling assault courses or performing engineering tasks, thinking laterally and making critical decisions. Part of the challenge is for the team members to select the appropriate people to compete within each section of the competition. Philip was selected as the team’s senior executive (SE) due to his relevant experience. Every year the event invites SE’s from the participating companies to take part – the SE then runs the 6th stage of the competition and is on hand to participate in the remaining stages of the event with the rest of the team. Philip explains, “My previous military training was of great value when competing in this event as many of the skills I had learnt were transferable and helped me contribute to the team with the challenges presented to us. We worked really well as a team, but it definitely helped me that I had previous experience of such situations, both physically and intellectually.” The challenge requires teams to work together day and night over a four day period. Having to think as a team, plan strategies in advance, and cope with the unexpected are all key aspects of the tasks. As a result, teams who can plan under pressure, make quick decisions and have clear communications are usually those to perform the best. Philip comments, “I am really proud of our team’s achievements in the Microsoft Challenge 2007. It was a great way to build a relationship and for IMD to get to know colleagues from our parent company – the OLM group. As well as being a great way for us to train people to work under pressure, it was also a great teambuilding exercise for everyone involved and we really discovered what we are capable of achieving together.”
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