Daily Derbi: A Grand Week

As most of you know for the week of January 5th-9th, my company, i.TV, flew me out to San Francisco with four other co-workers to represent our company at Macworld. All summed up, I had an absolute blast. Not only did I have the opportunity to eat at obscure restaurants, see the touristy sites, and do some shopping; but from a business and educational perspective I also learned a lot from my time in the Prius capitol of the world. I got to spend lots of time with i.TV's public relations guy, Justin, which taught me a lot about what a PR person does and exactly what the job consist of on a daily basis- something schooling has yet to teach me.

It was also fun to interact with people at Macworld. So many people seemed genuinely interested in our product and most were friendly, talkative, and interesting. We even got to talk to folks from various media including magazines, newspapers, and television. At one point a Canadian TV crew interviewed Justin, our fearless leader, but told

him "not to be nervous because it was just Canadian TV." Plus Sinbad stopped by and even asked for a demo! I, however, was out for lunch when he payed us a visit. But I am totally satisfied that my Gardenburger was well worth missing a celebrity appearance.

Of course, it was neat to roam around Macworld and pretend to understand all of the products, programs, and hardware I saw...which I didn't...at all. There were lots of basic vendors; headphone companies, iPod accessory people, and printer manufacturers. There were also really confusing vendors. SplashData remote iPhone desktop synchronization application software? Ya, I had no idea what on Earth that that meant either. In fact, there were few products that I could truly relate too. Macworld is indeed a home for tech-geeks.

I am worried that my week in San Francisco was a bad standard to judge any future business trips by. Needless to say, the bar has been set really, really high. I got to see a fascinating city. I got to eat at wonderful restaurants, diners, and cafes. I got to spend four nights in a four star hotel (easily the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at). I also got to see the $878.00 bill for my four night stay at the really nice hotel. And the best part? Nearly everything was "on the company".

What am awesome week. It was such a good experience in so many different ways and I am fully aware of the unique opportunity that had presented itself to me. I know of a hundred other people who would have killed to be in my spot yet somehow I was lucky enough to score an awesome experience.