I was in Las Vegas last week (staying at The Venetian) for our annual sales kickoff conference. It was a good week but I had a lot more to do than at past events which increased the stress and workload and reduced the partying and sight-seeing.
On Wednesday afternoon I loaned my laptop and services to a main stage presentation for the APJ team (Asia Pacific and Japan). All I had to do was cue up and press play for a number of videos on my laptop and I'm pleased to say I did it flawlessly (even though I'd only had one hour sleep). The day was long because we were at the theatre for AV checks at 8am, even though the session didn't start till 3:30pm.
On Thursday morning I hosted an all-hands session for the APJ Presales team. For this session I was organiser, speaker and facilitator. It went smoothly and everyone got involved in the round-table discussion time. It's great to hear the buzz of conversation as people from all different countries talk and share best practices and ideas. A highlight of the morning was Andy's presentation about Application Lifecycle Management being exactly like the movie Inception. Complete with a soundtrack Andy had everyone's attention, including the APJ big boss Anthony who was sitting quietly up the back. Anthony praised and briefly described Andy's presentation in the APJ main session on Friday morning and mentioned to me later how Andy is great at taking a quirky approach to his presentations.
A second highlight was the awards ceremony. For the session I had a "heroes" theme with a few quotes on screen and saying a few things about being heroic, which culminated in the Presales Superheroes awards to recognise the top presales consultant from each country in APJ. As well as a trophy and a bottle of champagne, we also gave each winner a superhero cape. It was very funny because the cape (ordered online) was red like Superman but had a high collar like Dracula.
On Friday morning I was at the control desk again, this time pressing the button to advance powerpoint slides which were used to establish the scene and as a backdrop to a skit. Now you might be thinking by now that I am a highly paid button-pusher and don't do any real (or hard) work, but I was actually co-writer, producer and director of the skit, along with my buddies Helen and Michelle. It went really well with the actors (roped-in colleagues from the Singapore office) doing a great job and being very funny on little sleep. We were in a theatre so had proper lighting and props (and no, thats not me in the photo). I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into the back-of-house preparation, language and activities that go into running a performance (or presentations in our case).
I'm now much more relaxed, if a bit jet-lagged - it's great to be home again. I did find time to get to both the Outlet Mall and Fry's Electronics so it wasn't entirely work. And all those other shiny buttons on the pokie machines in the casino? I just walked right past them.
Our little dog turned 4 today. The girls had bought Buckley presents, and although I suspect he was a little confused about the fuss, he happily accepted the treats. Not a day goes by when I am not grateful to have our furry four-legged friend as a part of the family. Here's a few photos of great times with our great dog.
On Friday morning I was at the control desk again, this time pressing the button to advance powerpoint slides which were used to establish the scene and as a backdrop to a skit. Now you might be thinking by now that I am a highly paid button-pusher and don't do any real (or hard) work, but I was actually co-writer, producer and director of the skit, along with my buddies Helen and Michelle. It went really well with the actors (roped-in colleagues from the Singapore office) doing a great job and being very funny on little sleep. We were in a theatre so had proper lighting and props (and no, thats not me in the photo). I also enjoyed getting a glimpse into the back-of-house preparation, language and activities that go into running a performance (or presentations in our case).
It was the second annual Dad's and Kid's Camp and somehow I ended up on the committee this year so I got to go too. Situated on the former penal colony of St John's Island, it is actually a rather perfect spot for the camp. The kids and dads played all afternoon and the next morning at the beach. The Mums committee had organised a loose schedule of activities and assigned a family to different duties. It worked really well as each father just made his part happen. One of the dads is a chef so he cooked up some mighty meals and the guys just stepped up to help out. The bonfire was cut short by torrential downpour but it had been a highlight while it lasted. Bedtime was at 10pm and was amazingly calm. I have to say I had a great time and I'm pretty sure that Dads and kids did too.
Once again we have been lucky enough to score a visit from Uncle Andrew. He seems to instigate adventures and this time it was a spot of night caching. On Thursday night the grown ups were making plans to return to the cache at Pasir Ris Park that had alluded us last time when some children, who should have been asleep, overheard and begged to come. So at about 9.30pm we all headed off to try our luck again. A bit of scrambling around the mud in the mangroves and we were rewarded with a find! It was great to see the park at night and it was actually reasonably busy (but not in the muddy mangroves). We had brought torches but when we switched them off we could actually see quite well from the permanent Singapore city glow. Felicity spotted a few shooting stars and said I ruined it for her when I pointed out they were landing at Changi Airport.
