Launch Day 2008

I arrived in San Diego yesterday, the day before the launch of our new collaboration portfolio.  More than 600 partners, employees, analysts and consultants converged on this location to be the first to hear the announcements and participate in various conferences being held throughout the week.  Thousands more participated via live Webcasts.  Over a 24-hour period, we hosted TelePresence sessions in more than 30 cities across the United States and Canada, Europe, Emerging Markets, Japan, and Asia Pacific.  It’s been a crazy couple of days.

 Now that the launch has occurred and the press announcements have been made, the pressure is off for me.  I am able to participate in the sessions and network with the attendees now.  It’s still work, but it’s not as stressful as what I’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks. 

The event opened with a welcome reception at the hotel last night.  Afterwards, my team went to dinner together at the Indigo Grill in Little Italy.  Since most of the people I work with are not located in Texas, it’s nice to get together, relax and hang out as a team.  It was a late night, but we had a good time — anytime you get 35 “type A” marketing people together you will have lots of fun and great conversation. 

I’m staying at the US Grant hotel in downtown San Diego. It’s a lovely hotel, ranked as one of the Top 128 Hotels in the World by Conde Naste Traveler.  They are also the winner of “Best Luxury Guestroom Design” at HotelWorld’s International Design Competition.  I can see why.  Their rooms, lobby, and meeting facilities are outstanding.  If you plan to visit San Diego, I highly recommend it.  See pictures below.