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I drove over to Bristol, Connecticut this afternoon, which any novice sports fan knows is the home to ESPN. I figured I would drive around the campus and maybe see a Sportscenter anchor walking to their car.
But in fact, that place is locked up like Fort Knox. Gates and security everywhere. It was cool to at least see the place. Here are some pics…
I’m traveling to Connecticut today to speak at a student leadership event on Friday morning. We’ll be doing some group mixers, team building activities, and brainstorming ways to help improve their school. I’m really looking forward to hanging out with these students!
And secretly, I’m hoping to be able to buzz over to Bristol, Connecticut to check out the headquarters for ESPN. It is a journey…a quest…a pilgrimage…that every true sports fan must make once in their lifetime!
I’m at home packing up some of my belongings and getting ready to head to the airport. I’ve got a full week ahead of me that should be fun, but I’ll definitely be missing my girls. Having web cams definitely helps though…
Tonight I fly into Pittsburgh and drive a few hours to Altoona, PA, where I’ll be speaking tomorrow. Then I drive over and speak in Greensburg, PA on Tuesday and Pittsburgh on Wednesday. After that, I’ll buzz down to West Virginia and speak in Parkersburg, WV on Thursday and Charleston, WV on Friday. And finally, I get to fly home Friday night.
5 days. 5 cities. 5 different hotels. 5 events.
Yikes.
As I type this, I’m sitting in the airport in Providence, RI getting ready to head home. It was a quick trip out here, but I had an incredible time. I spoke at a great event on Tuesday in Providence, and had a killer time with some awesome students!
Then I drove out to the Cape Cod area and hung out with fellow youth speaker, Jeff Yalden. We had a great time! Last night we went for a drive along the coast, had some incredible seafood, drove around and enjoyed the gorgeous evening, and then went back to his house and played cards with his family. It was just a really relaxing and fun night.
I was reminded about how valuable it is to share life with people. Speaking can be very mentally and emotionally draining and often times after an event, speakers enjoy just going back to their hotel room and going to bed (not real exciting huh?!). But as tired as I was, I enjoyed sharing my life with Jeff and his family and allowing them to share their lives with me.
Who are you sharing your life with and who is sharing their life with you?
It’s been nice to be home for a few days, but I head back out tomorrow. I fly out tomorrow night and travel to Providence, Rhode Island. I will be speaking Tuesday morning at an event for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
After that, I’m going to drive out to Cape Cod and hang with fellow youth speaker, Jeff Yalden. Jeff is a true veteran in this business and has been in the industry much longer than I have. He’s invited me to come visit for an extra day, so I’m looking forward to chilling with him but also to seeing the Cape Cod area (which I hear is gorgeous!).
I’ll then fly back home Wednesday afternoon. I’m sure I’ll have some pictures to post from this trip…
I haven’t had much of a chance to blog this week so I wanted to check in with some updates…
I’m getting ready to leave in the next hour or so to hit the road again. I’ve been home for several weeks with the new arrival of little Emilee Beth. It’s been nice to be home for a while, but Daddy has to go make some money!
I’ve got a 5 hour drive to Springfield, IL where I’m speaking at a student leadership event Monday morning. Then I’ll drive to St. Louis and catch a flight to Knoxville, TN where I’ll be speaking on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, I’ll drive over to Nashville, TN and speak there Thursday and Friday. Friday night I fly back to St. Louis and then will have a 3 hour drive back home.
Just seeing that schedule makes me tired!
But I love what I get to do, so I’m looking forward to being at some great events this week! Plus, my wife just got a new laptop, so we can talk with a webcam and I can see all the girls back home.
I’ll keep you updated on the travels this week!
I’m in Atlanta right now doing some workshops for the National FBLA Conference and I’m staying in the Hyatt Regency, which is a really nice hotel. As much as I travel lately, I’ve begun to notice little things that some hotels do that set themselves apart from others. Here are some things that have happened here at the Hyatt:
And so overall it has been an extremely great hotel experience. But then yesterday, something happened that left a bad taste in my mouth. After I finished my second workshop, the hotel staff began tearing down the room to reset for a different event. It happens and I’m used to it, so no big deal. But somehow in the shuffle, I had a box filled with all my worksheets and promo cards for today’s workshops that was thrown out with the trash. Again, it happens, not the end of the world.
But the frustration was that I could not get a single staff member to stop long enough to help me find it. There were probably 30-40 staff in there moving things around and resetting this massive room, but everyone was too busy to help one of the hotel guests. What really irked me was when I found someone I presume was a manager of sorts (dressed in a suit) but when I asked him for his help, he literally shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sorry, it’s not my problem.”
Are you freaking kidding me?!? Your staff tosses something I need and it’s not your problem?! Wow…
So I say that to say…the little things make a big difference. I had a great stay at this hotel and they did so many things with excellence but what will I remember about being here?
The staff member who pointed out that my need wasn’t his problem.
The same thing is true in your everyday life. The smallest comment. The littlest chore. The thing you did that you thought was no big deal. Any of those things could make all the difference in the world.
But is the difference that you make going to be a positive or negative one?
I enjoyed a nice afternoon and evening strolling around Washington DC and getting to play tourist. Here were some of my stops:
As many of you may know, my wife is quite pregnant and is due in the next few weeks. This is our second so we are fairly familiar with the drill but anytime a baby is involved, it makes planning your business travel a little difficult.
So I fly into Baltimore last night where I will be speaking at the Maryland 4-H State Conference on Thursday morning. Which means I have all of today off and was just planning on getting some work done here at the hotel. I arrive late and get to bed around midnight or so.
Then the phone rings at 4am.
And it’s my wife.
Did I mention she is quite pregnant? When your wife is quite pregnant and you’re halfway across the country, you don’t want a phone call from her at 4am!
She said she was having some major contractions and was going to head into the hospital but to hang tight. So naturally I’m up and awake at this point, despite only a few hours of sleep. I begin browsing flight options and found the best option would be that I would fly direct to St. Louis, rent a car and drive 3 hours home. I’d be home for about 6 hours and then would drive back to St. Louis to catch a flight back to Baltimore so I could speak the next morning.
It was a pretty ambitious plan but I was ready to go. So I packed up everything, headed to the airport, with the instructions from the Mrs not to buy a ticket until they hear from the doctor. I get to the airport and am sitting there in the terminal just waiting for “the call” so I know whether or not I need to buy a ticket for a flight that leaves in about 45 minutes!
As it turns out, she was certainly having some strong contractions but her water hadn’t broken and she wasn’t quite there for baby-pushing time.
So thankfully I drove back to the hotel and took a morning power nap.
Quite an eventful morning!
