Wednesday, May 6 2009
Now You See Him
SR-6, Nevada. Photo by Dave Becker
I've been a long time gone, and what a month this last week has been.
Since my last blog update I've been busily prepping for, and then flying to and attending conferences. First, I flew home from F-10 planning meetings in Ontario, got some clean laundry and flew back out to Ohio to visit with the LD Carlson folks. The Carlson conference has gone from strength to strength over the last ten years. I remember the very first one, which had great attendance and overflow seating for my seminars. I stood up and answered questions for what seemed like days, but it was only four and a half hours--the folks were hungry for knowledge!
This time I flew into Cleveland the day before. You lose a terrific amount of time flying East, so starting in the early morning gets you there after the close of business, so I had a little time in the evening to catch up with my Ohio girlfriends--which is what my wife calls them. I'm 99% sure she's pulling my leg. We usually get together over dinner and gossip and catch up, and this time was no different, except for two things: first, my dear pal Melissa got married the week before (congratulations, you crazy kids!) and her new hubby John joined us. My delightful chum Lisa helped offset my mug and we hit Fahrenheit for a fabulous meal, including their signature nachos, a single spiral cut potato turned into crisp, crisp chips, drizzled and strewn with Goat Cheese Sauce, Bacon, Chives, and Scallions. They said it was 'dusted with sea salt', but it may as well have been dusted with crack. Wowie! As usual I ordered up wines, and got a Kir Royale (blackcurrant liqueur and champagne) to start, along with a couple of great-value wines from their smallish but well thought-out list. Now that it's impossible to get into Lola's any longer (our previous first-choice, before Michael Symon hit it big on Iron Chef) Fahrenheit is a great go-to place, and right there in the thick of a cool food scene for Cleveland.
The second new thing was, I made some wonderful friends at the Cleveland hotel I was staying in. It started off innocent enough when I checked in, and there was a full house: wedding parties, corporate meetings and something about an organisation called the 'CLAW'. I thought it must be a trade union or something. There also seemed to be a lot of bikers in the house, tromping about in their leather jackets, leather vests, leather hats, big leather boots, etc.
Now, a word of explanation: when I'm off the clock for the company, I wear a kilt. I've worn them for the last ten years or so. My wife is partly of Scots ancestry, but I just prefer them--comfy and stylish, they're a good choice for any occasion--except, I think, work, where I'd have to explain my sartorial choices more than our products.
Kilting in Key West. And it's not even Fantasy Fest!
So I got on the elevator and there were a bunch of these leather-clad chaps on first. One of them looks me over, "I really like your kilt."
"Thanks, pal," I told him, noticing his CLAW badge. "You fellows look pretty spiffy too. Are you here for a convention?"
"Yes! We look forward to Cleveland Leather Awareness Weekend all year long! Are you coming to the event?" It was then that I noticed that it wasn't a fringe on his jacket that was hanging down, it was a Cat o' Nine Tails hanging from his belt.
Really, I can make friends wherever I go. I hope they had a successful convention.
The Carlson event was the next day in Akron. I gave my seminars on Technical Selling and positioning wine kits (stuff about what each kit contains, and how to explain what it will taste like, how long it will age, etc) and did a component tasting in the afternoon. We had another speaker, Kevin Graff, who did a great job talking about excellence in retailing, merchandising and sales (I learned a lot) along with Jeff Anderson who anchored us with industry trends and forecasts, and our MC, Brian Wright who kept it hopping. Kirstin and the entire LD Carlson crew did a smashing job putting it all together for us, and it went without a hitch--very rare occurence in the world of conferences!
There was also time for a little hanging out
Alberta and Jackie Rager
All the way from Shawnee Kansas were Alberta and Jackie, Alberta owns Bacchus and Barleycorn and is an old friend of mine. We've done a couple of Limited Edition events together, and it's always great to see her and Jackie again.
Also present were Forrest and his buyer, John. Forrest is a mensch, and some kind of Scandanavian Frost-Giant from Austin, Texas, where he owns Austin Homebrew. It was my first chance to meet John, who turns out to be one of the biggest beer geeks of all time, filling their little Honda with a thousand pounds of beer gathered from their travels.
Deep from the heart of Texas, John and Forrest
The weird thing, though, he didn't just buy good beer. Nope, he bought some really, really bad beer, simply because he's a completist who wants to taste everything available. He's young, though, and hasn't drank as much bad beer (and simply not as much beer altogether) as I have. He'll learn that novelty is no substitute for quality.
I also had a few minutes to hit West Point Market in Akron. Lisa took me in and I rewarded her thoughtfulness by making her buy wine, one of the hazards of hanging around with me. We also tasted cheeses (about a dozen) various meats, spreads, wines and beers. It was like visiting a smorgasbord that let you take some home! They also had a wide array of specialty products . . .
Relax, it's a kind of pudding. I hope.
After that it was a quick, 'so long' to my pals from the CLAW, and time to go home and do my laundry before my next trip, to the Winexpert West Coast conference in Portland Oregon. It was our inaugural event since taking over our own distribution in the area, and it turned out really well, starting with a wine tasting over at FH Steinbart. I've know John and Mary Kay for years, and they've got a great pedigree, over 100 years (is it 102 now?) in the business. No, they're not vampires! The shop has been in the family forever. Their staff are also incredibly dedicated and knowledgeable wine and beer makers who really service their customers well.
Portland conference crew. Wake up, Mike!
Jim Willis, our account manager there, did a bang-up job presenting on store merchandising and sales, Jeff covered the big picture, Julie Mitten (Winexpert's Marketing Manager) talked about marketing and promotions, and I did my usual thing, positioning, a Q&A session and another component tasting. We also hit 'Hip Chicks Do Wine' for a tasting and some snacks. Then it was back in the car and back to Canada for a company meeting and more laundry.
Next week? Napa!
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