Quarterly Meeting Not Worth a Plugged Nickel
I was invited to the company’s quarterly meeting and it turned out to be not worth a plugged nickel! I thought this would be a good opportunity to meet the sales team and get more insight into the business. We were still working on the documents to clarify the new company’s structure, that is meeting the Women’s Business Enterprise Council’s (WBENC) requirements, but I had formed a new entity, registered the with the GS1 US for our bar codes, created a logo, and set up a business checking account. I had secured placement with The Kroger Company for two flavors of the “heart healthy” frozen pizza. I had completed the new item forms locking in our price and pack size. This was a home run for the team. I thought there would be some type of excitement over the opportunity at hand. Instead, there was no mention of the new pizza product, or me for that matter. I was shunned from the morning Read more
Detroit Metro Delay From Hell
An uneventful flight found us in the Northwest Detroit terminal. We had missed our connections, damn it, so I was stuck with my shadow for a while longer. This was going to be the Detroit Metro Delay from hell. He wanted to eat continuously. I didn’t want to eat at all, never had an appetite when he was around for some reason. We had three freaking hours in Detroit. But as airport terminals go, this is a pretty nice one. My shadow wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This food option, PB&J, was at the opposite end of the terminal so at least we could kill some time getting there. If my shadow were not with me, I would be relaxing in the World Club lounge. I could have taken him in with me, but why?
Don’t Drink the Purple Kool-aid!
As often is the case in the northeast in winter, it began to snow. Please, no I begged the sky. Stop, please stop! Do not let my flight home be delayed.
We made it to the Bradley International airport, checked in and boarded. Of all the ill-fated wretched luck, my shadow’s random seat assignment was beside mine. As I watched the snowflakes getting bigger and falling faster, I thought, just go. Go anyway. I am a good swimmer and I have a decent layer of fat to insulate myself, I will take my chances with a water landing. Please, just go.
Welcome to Fantasy Island!
Me and my Shadow, were scheduled to meet up with Eric, the company’s northeast regional sales manager; a truly kind, smart, hardworking guy from Boston for some planning and several retail grocery appointments. The day before our retail meetings, my shadow thought it would be a good use of time for us to sit in the lobby of the hotel to work on sales projections for the new pizza instead of the prudent practice of conducting store checks. Store checks are the practice of visiting as many stores in a retail chain as possible to familiarize yourself with the product mix, merchandising and other specifics of the retailer that you are going to call on the next day. In other words, be prepared to have an intelligent conversation with the retailer.
