Thursday, February 23, 2012

Pretty empty up here, Half Full

Always fun when I get to fly through my Gate 87A

MSP Experience

Well, finished up some solid appointments over the last 3 days. I also trust my follow-up conversations with clients will earn some good wins.

Getting laid up in ORD the other night really threw me off on sleep - so I did my best to get in early the last two nights after finishing up my client visits for some sleep - worked well. By this morning I was feeling much better - just in time to head back tot he West Coast. I will be heading back out to the South in a weeks time - NOLA - I trust the Mardi Gras partying will be long over and folks will be back to business.

Here are some shots of my Minnesota trip.


St. Johns University Bell Tower - massive cement structure.


An old house in Northfield, MN - hundreds of these, this one stood out to me.


Carleton College - Northfield, MN Bell Tower.

At this school, I found out the Financial Aid Administrator I met with plays the French Horn (as does my Boy Wonder). She had a few photos of herself and her horn, so it was only natural to talk a bit about that. Good rapport building so she enjoyed talking to me a little more regarding business as well.



For those of you that have heard of Malt-O-Meal - Northfield, MN is their headquarters. In the old days, Malt-O-Meal competed with companies like Quaker Oats for the hot breakfast market. They also sell those bulk bags of cereal and my favorite is Honey Buzzers (which is very similar to Honey Comb).

Well, I need to get into SalesForce and start logging my client visits and plan a follow-up to get them to use our product at their schools. So until next time, I'll see you in the air.

Mr. Smith

Monday, February 20, 2012

In The Air Again

Well, it has been a few months since I have been in the air, so I am looking forward to this busy trip to Minnesota in the middle of Winter. It is supposed to be pretty mild - lows in the mid 20s and highs near 40. I hope I make my connections as my first flight out of RDD is a bit delayed. My next two connections are 1st Class, so I am forgoing lunch and hoping to get my complimentary meal - if I make the flights. I will try to do some Mobil posts while I'm on the road this week, something new for me.

My itinerary originally takes me from RDD to SFO, SFO to DEN, and DEN to MSP. getting me into MSP around midnight. Perfect for my morning appointments.

Looks like the RDD flight is delayed enough that I will have to switch it up a bit. I have an option from SFO to IAD then IAD to MSP, but it gets me into MSP a little too late to make my first appt. Another option is SFO to ORD, and ORD to MSP on a different carrier - but that would get me into MSP at 7:30am - in time to clean up a bit and make it to my first appt on time. I will have to wait until I get into SFO to see what options I still have.

The part I least like about travel - being late for an appointment.

Well - here we are, in SFO, looks like the best routing to get me into MSP tomorrow morning is a flight through ORD. So I will arrive in ORD just after midnight, then I have to find something to do in the airport until my flight out at 6am. Somewhere to sleep - maybe their United Club will have an overnight option - should I be so lucky. I don't think so. At least I brought my bags with me on this journey. I will need to find a place to clean-up, get dressed, so when I hit the ground in MSP I will be ready to head to my first appt.

Until my next post - I'll see you in the air.

Mr. Smith