Sunday, September 26 2010
Conference Calling
Kevin Graff, talkin' the talk
Another whirlwind weekend for Captain Chaos (me). After getting back from Toronto and New Jersey I just had time to hit the office, catch up on emails and submit some reports when Saturday popped up again and it was time for Winexpert Retail's annual customer appreciation barbecue. Gadzooks!
I love the barbecue. It's pretty low-key: we grill some burger and hot dogs and have a wee sale to show our customers that we know why we're here--them! Just like last year the weather threatened all Friday, dawned cloudy and by the time I got to the office with the last of the supplies, it was beautiful.
L to R: me, Dennis Walsh, Dan Jenzen, Soren Isbon, Linda and Fred Williams. Thanks for coming! There was somewhere around 80 people between 11 and 3:30 when I had to run off.
Happy shiny people! I serve up a pretty good burger, I have to say so myself.
You want fries with that? To my everlasting delight, I got a surprise. I twittered about the barbecue to the world at large. I didn't expect to see many of my followers to show up, as they're mostly scattered around the world and probably already booked on a sunny morning. And then someone did show up!
We haven't changed a bit. Well, Jane hasn't. I've sort-of doubled. Jane and I went to school together in Maple Ridge, lo these many decades ago. It's a funny world when you can travel around the world, meet thousands of new people every year for decades, and suddenly one day you realize there are people you've known your whole life . . . and it's a long time, and you're still pleased to see them and the connection they represent to your past. Good to see you again--come by again and I'll buy you another veggie burger.
I said 'had to leave' because Saturday was also the pre-presentation for our Western Canadian Retailer conference and I was doing a Q&A at the Delta hotel in Burnaby at 5. A quick change of shirt and six cups of coffee and I was on. Good crowd, good questions and a really great discussion of current trends and some of the challenges the consumer winemaking industry faces in the coming year. I also did the Limited Edition presentation for our retail partners, which was plenty of fun.
Then it was home for a very well-deserved nap and I'm back at it right now--liveblogging from the conference room of the Delta, tapping away while the presenters do their job. Whoops! I'm up next and I have to go!
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