Chi-Town

It's our busy season, but at least this trip to Chicago would be close to home and only for a few days. Little did I realize that it would be a trip filled with a bit of drama.

After the cab ride from, well, you know (Actually it was from O'Hare to McCormick Place that took over an hour), I had to set up my booth before the deadline of 5:00 PM. I made it just in time.

I got back to the hotel and decided it was time for me to head over to one of my favorite Sushi restaurants: Ra Sushi Bar and Restaurant. I'm sure I've mentioned it before.

http://www.rasushi.com/

Sadly, while the food was yummy, the service was quite lacking this time. What is it with customer service (or lack thereof) these days? Okay, I won't go off on a tangent.

In my haste to make my flight and because I was distracted several times before packing up at work, I forgot my power cord for my laptop. How was I going to demo our software without any power? Trust me, an applicant tracking system does not lend itself well for an interpretive dance.

After running around Chicago, literally, I was out of luck. Nothing would work with my Dell. In the morning, I went to the Expo Hall and asked around, and a lady happened to have an extra power cord. She saved my hide, and demos!

Still toting Flat Stanley around for my niece, I figured he was as happy as I was to be able to plug in my laptop and my projector.

Needless to say, after that adventure, I needed a treat. So that night, I headed to another favorite restaurant, Su Casa. A favorite because, while I'm not fond of Tequila, they make some of the best Margaritas. So I had a small Paloma Margarita. I was barely fit to walk back to the Residence Inn! What a light-weight!


As much as I love Chicago, I was happy to see this trip end. Only because I knew what was in store for me next week in San Diego at the mother of all trade shows for us. Little did I know what an adventure that one would turn out to be. But that's a tale for another post.

So, one last picture of Chi-Town with two buddies at Midway Airport, Flat Stanley, and a bunch of passengers looking at me as if I were mad.

Helping Hand

I'm in the midst of the trifecta of trade show turmoil. And actually, it's more than just three. Thankfully, I hired a great Business Development Specialist a couple of weeks ago. Adam is leaps and bounds better than my last (keeping it clean and professional here) "employee". Working double duty was worth it.

Every year I try to do something clever to include in the booth graphics for my boss or to shows I don't attend. I made Adam pose with me, and you can see that the stress is already impacting me. (Like I need that as an excuse!)

I really do need professional help.