One of the authors, Isabel Amaral, left on the photo, granted the honour to hand out a copy to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic, signed by all 5 authors.
Amsterdam University Press recently published the book ‘Protocol to Manage Relationships Today: Modern Relationship Management Based Upon Traditional Values’, a book written by leading protocol experts from The Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom and with contributions from protocol experts at the European Union, the British Royal Household, the military, Gucci, ABN AMRO Bank, the cities of The Hague and Meijerijstad, UEFA and many others.
The book describes the successful application of contemporary protocol to build strong relationships by, among others, the Dutch King, at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle and at the World Press Photo awards show. In the book Dutch fashion and lifestyle expert Maik de Boer explains the value of protocol in the world of fashion as well as the protocol of the famous Berlin techno club Berghain is described.
‘Protocol to Manage Relationships Today’ also describes the success of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the recently re-elected President of the Portuguese Republic, to balance the protocol between tradition and modernity. The book explains that if the rules of protocol are applied too strictly, a meeting will be too formal and uncomfortable. Too casual and too little focus is also not good and applying too few rules leads to chaos. Also, too much symbolism in protocol will make people laugh and if there is no symbolism, we will not be able to recognize the story and/or understand why we are attending the event.
Protocol is all about balancing between tradition and modernity.
‘The night before the state visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Grand Duke Henri and the President of Portugal decided to go out for a few beers. The President felt right at home: an estimated 120,000 of the 550,000 people in Luxembourg are either born in Portugal or are of Portuguese ancestry. Even the Grand Duke himself has two Portuguese great-grandmothers. The President was welcomed with open arms and the unofficial and unorthodox start of the state visit was the beginning of a very good friendship between the two Heads of state.
‘This is a great example of how relations are built,’ the Founder and director of The standard Companion, the Australian-based etiquette school, Retallack explains in an interview in our book. ‘Building diplomatic relations relies heavily on face-to-face interactions where true connections are made. I admire the approach of the Portuguese President.’ The approach of the Portuguese President towards protocol is not about abolishing it but introducing small changes. It allowed him to achieve a lot and it is part of the reasons why he is so popular.
At the end of 2020 the authors of the book were granted the honour to hand out a copy to the President of the Portuguese Republic.
Order the book on www.protocolbureau.com/book
