The Chairman of Microsoft and world-renowned entrepreneur, Bill Gates, was coming to the UAE for the first time. Microsoft wanted to take advantage of this huge opportunity at its upcoming annual partner summit, where Bill Gates would speak about building people-ready businesses. They decided to invite a hand-picked few heads of companies, CEOs and CFOs from around the Gulf, who were also Microsoft partners. These important people have packed schedules, so we had to come up with a powerful invite so they would be convinced enough to fly in from different places to attend this mega event.

What better way to reach out to people than a personal invitation from Microsoft’s Chairman Bill Gates himself? So we sent out an invite - silver business card holders that held Bill Gates' very own business card inside. This was a highly exclusive, personal way to ask people to come and see one of the world's greatest businessmen speak live, about his people-ready philosophy.

The results were genuinely astounding for a direct mailer. 260 of the 300 invitees came, many flying in especially for the day from different parts of the Middle East. We came to know that Bill Gates' office even received a few thank you calls for the 'personal' invitation. The event turned out to be a major success for Microsoft, and one of its most prestigious and well-received partner summits ever.