Inside ASI-AP

After being in cold London for a week, I arrived in DC Sunday evening and although the temperature was lower, it felt warmer – at least for the first day. The week started off cool (-2 to 1 C) then got cold (-4 to -1 C) and then by Sunday warmed up (-1 to 11 C) - completely different to Melbourne.

It was a busy week with meetings. I started Monday with Moji going through some process and other training items in using the Customer Care Dashboard and opportunity management. I met with Beau Harbin regarding iMIS Training as he is now managing the schedule in the US – we spent time discussing strategy for getting more customers to training, including courses, segmentation and promotion. The rest of the day was spent time catching up on emails.

Tuesday morning I awoke to snow – it snowed most of the day. And yes, it was definitely colder than in London. I took the opportunity to walk by the river (Potomac) to see the ice and snow. I was also amazed at the planes landing through the snow at National Airport.

Wednesday Edward and I went to ASAE Technical Conference in DC. It was not snowing as really – but the snow had melted and frozen again so it was icy –dangerous walking on sidewalks and driving cars. The tradeshow is HUGE compared to anything I have been to in Australia. The marketing team also have a huge stand presence to match too. I got the opportunity to meet with some customers and feel the buzz has returned about moving to iMIS 15. The attendance was lower than previous years because of the ice and snow – but still great to appreciate the size of the market.

The rest of the week was plenty of internal meetings with John, Bob, Edward, the NA Customer Care team and even Sarah GoLightly who was in town for a few days after the conference.

On the weekend I went into DC to have a look around and see some of the ponds and fountains frozen – just for a different view. I visited the Newseum – this is a new (pay to get in) museum of the history of news. I spent 2-3 hours there, so there was plenty to look at.

Sunday turned out to be the warmest day all week I went to the local shopping centre to have a look around – including seeing ice-skating outside. I spent a fair amount of time considering the assortment of Obama souvenirs. I even took a picture of “Barack in a Box”. Tonight is Superbowl XLIII so I have tried to watch some of that on TV, but well, I don’t really “get it” so I have started getting prepared for the last three days in the US before going home. I will be leaving for Melbourne on Wednesday night and back in the office Monday 9th Feb.