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Daniel Levine

Mike Huckabee, Scarlet Johansson, The Rolling Stones and me

What an amazing week! Participating in the exciting IMTM trade show as a prime tourism industry platform, Blue Ribbon Bags this week leveraged its powerful instant success in the United States to enter a second travel-smart market, Israel.

We described our unique protection to tens of travel agencies, signed strategic deals with wholesale operators and were interviewed by key media. Israelis are known for being non-stop travelers who understand a good deal when they hear it, so Blue Ribbon was a natural for them: Click to pay $5 to cover loss of your luggage when you make your air reservations, and receive $1,000 four days after any loss occurs. That’s the idea in a nutshell, no red tape or bureaucracy.

But the highlight of my week was hanging out with ex-Governor and hugely popular TV program host Mike Huckabee who was leading a group of 300 all over the country. He is a family friend, and I caught up with him at the Bible Lands Museum.

With Mike Huckabee

He was interested in Blue Ribbon’s idea and asked many probing questions about the how, what and when of our approach to consumer-friendly coverage. With Mike, unlike so many other politicians, what you see is what you get. He spoke bluntly, intelligently and let everyone know exactly where he stands to the press surrounding him.

He pointed out that beyond being a smart business move, Blue Ribbon was joining the ranks of Scarlet Johansson of Soda Stream fame in showing the wrongheaded boycott of Israel to be all talk and no action. I was profoundly encouraged by his including me in the illustrious ranks of businessmen interested not only in profits, but in promoting important values.

In his words: “The anti-Israel boycott movement is embarrassingly stupid because Israel represents the one place in the Mideast where freedom exists.”

Mike Huckabee is a veteran—and talented—rock and roll bass musician. We both expressed our joy that the legendary Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger will kick off their huge new world tour in Israel this summer. The governor quipped: “With the Stones, Scarlett Johansson and Blue Ribbon all heading for Israel, the boycott might as well surrender.”

About the Author
After dealing with the intense headache of the airline loosing his bags, Daniel Levine took it into his own hands and co-launched Blue Ribbon Bags, a baggage protection service.