Branson rocks!: He’s sending a Noah’s Ark into outer space

The “old hippie” is headin’ to Mars.
Or, perhaps more accurately, Richard Branson – fearless leader of the ubiquitous Virgin brand – is hatching a plan with Google Inc.’s founders to send volunteers to the Red Planet to establish a city.
There is a catch, as he clearly enjoyed telling an equally smitten, SRO crowd at the opening day keynote:
Those tickets are one-way.
And the trip clearly will be, uh, wireless. (Strings attached, perhaps – waivers sound likely – but no wires.)
Never mind that Virgin Mobile USA Inc. – Branson’s American mobile virtual network operator – is limping, the man is irrepressible. And that entrepreneurial spirit in the face of daunting odds had the CTIA Wireless 2008 crowd eating out his hand. Think big, brush off defeats, listen to critics. Repeat steps one through three as needed.
When Branson finished his off-the-cuff recital of keystones in his improbable business career, he asked for a show of hands from those willing to take his one-way ticket to Mars. A flurry of hands shot up.
(Me? I’m just looking to get home in one piece from Planet Las Vegas.)
Capture and send this image to your compadres: Branson invited his would-be volunteers onstage, glad-handing a score of people clearly infected by his fabulosity. Branson likes to have fun – if you’re a public speaker, try substituting “fun” for “infrastructure” and you too may attract acolytes.
Face it, Branson’s contagious smile makes his fellow master marketer, Steve Jobs, look like a dour dork. Especially when Branson repeatedly, shamelessly, riffed off “virgin” to willing titters from the crowd.
Rarely does a CTIA keynoter actually stir more than vigorous applause. But Branson had a couple dozen volunteers demonstrating in public that they were ready to leave Earth for a destiny many would consider certain death.
To those silly pundits expecting Branson to address Virgin Mobile USA’s woes: you miss the point.
What’s a few million here, a few million there, we’re heading to Mars! (Where’s the human wave when you’re feelin’ it?!) And Branson finished with a broad call for individual and corporate responsibility to address climate change, saying he’s throwing down $3 billion – the proceeds from his carbon-spewing businesses – to research a way to subtract (or add) carbon to Earth’s atmosphere to adjust global temperatures. (That is indeed what the man said.)
“Be a force for change,” Branson intoned with another bright smile. “Today there is no excuse for inaction. To turn a blind eye is unforgivable.”
“More than ever, in these fickle economic times, we need to remain flexible,” Branson added, in a rare allusion to business realities – perhaps a veiled message to nervous bankers and venture capitalists. He referred to his life’s work as “branded venture capital.”
His secret?
“How would I want to be treated, if I were the customer?” he asked rhetorically.
Thus Branson delivered the fun, the sermon and practical business advice. Judging from its reaction, the audience dug it.
Naturally, that’s a tough act to follow. Particularly if you’re extolling the virtues of your next iteration of Windows Mobile – the task that fell to Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft Corp.’s entertainment and devices division. The news: Windows Mobile 6.1 has some cool new features, amply demo’ed at the keynote.
The message: it’s all about “software and services” – the engine for consumers realizing their wireless dreams and the engine for Microsoft’s future growth.
Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp., didn’t say a lot of substance, but what he said he said with verve. In a no-nonsense style, Hesse delivered an upbeat revival meeting on Nextel’s fortunes (forget what you’ve read!) and on Xohm – the next-gen network that promises to deliver “freedom,” in Hesse’s words.
“The pole position is where we want to be in a new industry,” Hesse said. “Consumers don’t want a walled garden, they want freedom. If (data delivery) is not sub-second, it’s second rate.”
For the device freaks, Hesse unveiled the new “Instinct” from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which looked like an iPhone but – as Hesse pointed out – packing EV-DO speeds and GPS, along with key Sprint Nextel services.
Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon Wireless, and chairman of CTIA this year, delivered the obligatory call for killing taxes and regulation and promised that further growth for the wireless industry is “imminent” with 4G around the corner.
“If you think this industry is mature, think again,” he intoned. “There is no more dynamic industry anywhere on the planet than wireless in the United States.”
And then the droves headed to the show floor for proof – as if they needed any.