Newsletter 2005 - Work
Group shot at the wedding - I promise I am in there (somewhere)
My main focus this year has been Field Readiness. We have produced one course and are now working on another. The Beta phase of this project brought me quite a bit of travel. I spent five weeks in the Americas in June and July visiting Ottawa, Orlando, Sao Paulo and Chicago on business. Brian was able to spend some time with his family whilst I was over there, so I managed to see him each weekend, both in Philadelphia and for a visit to our brothers in Washington DC. The European leg of the Beta process saw me visit Bracknell and Frankfurt.
Field Kickoff was in Dallas this year. We spent one evening at the Southfork Ranch where the Dallas TV show was filmed. It was only the outside of the ranch that was used in the show and the house is pretty small. We were entertained in a large soulless building nearby. Another evening, I had the opportunity to ride a mechanical bull. The operator was pretty kind and I actually not only managed to stay on for my full allotment of time, but also managed to teach one of my colleagues the trick of staying on. The other main form of entertainment in Dallas appears to be armadillo racing. In order to get them to move, you have to blow on their rear end - this was something I decided not to do.
I was able to combine a visit to Ottawa in October with a friend's wedding, which had a medieval theme. I had great fun finding a costume and managed to find one which would survive the journey. The venue in the center of Ottawa lent itself beautifully to the theme and it was a wonderful occasion. The fact that the majority of the guests had chosen to attend the wedding in costume quickly made us all part of things and we all enjoyed the attention of passers-by. Following the ceremony and prior to the reception, the guests went out for a meal. I was lucky enough to find some colleagues to go with - the last thing I wanted to do was to stand out dining in medieval costume in the middle of Ottawa. After our meal, we decided to take a walk around the area. It was great fun having people stare at our group. We were even stopped by two groups of tourists who wanted to take our picture and find out what we were doing there.
In December, I made my first ever visit to Sweden, for a customer meeting at our Stockholm office. The meeting was very successful, but the highlight for me was the evening event. Our visit to the restraunt for dinner had a slightly different dimension as before eating, we were divided into two groups and lead away from the eating area to the kitchens. Our task was to prepare our own starters and deserts and learn how to prepare the fish. It was a very interesting experience, but one that was hard to follow as I speak no Swedish. This was a highly entertaining experience and one that I belive is becoming increasingly common in good Stockholm restaurants. The meal was also accompanied by a mini (two) wine tasting session to make the meal a unique experience for me.