Up and Away

I'm off on a business related trip next week - in fact, tomorrow morning - for five days jaunting across South Eastern Australia. I fly from Brisbane to Melbourne, where four of us meet up with our National Sales Manager who's been away in Western Australia & South Australia for the past fortnight. We pile into a Ford Territory for the journey to our first dealers conference in Shepperton, Victoria. Why Shepperton escapes me, but apparently it's central to those dealerships in central western New South Wales and Victoria. Tuesday we meet and greet, launch the finance arm of the business, of which I'm principal. Should be interesting. I've been to a few product launches in my time, but have never been the one smashing the proverbial bottle of champers over the bow, so to speak. Apparently these conference do's are all very laid-back and low-key so I'm looking forward to into-ing myself and my job to all concerned. The preparation has been a month in the creation, and I'm as confident of my readiness as I've ever been with any new launch. It should be an easy platform because the dealers are all small business franchisees in the in-ground fibreglass swimming pool industry, and know two-fifth's of three-eight's of sweet fuck all about the finance game. Putty in my hands might be a time-worn analogy, but in this case, it's very apt.

After Tuesday's launch, we pack up Wednesday morning, pile into the Territory once again and head off cross country to Newcastle, capital of the Hunter Valley wine and coal region of New South Wales. This is some drive! 880 klicks and 10.5 hours in duration. I don't expect we'll be doing a whole lot of sight-seeing or wine-tasting. After overnighting where-ever we're supposed to be staying in Newcastle, it's a repeat of the finance launch in Newcastle on Thursday with the usual shoulder-rubbing and bullshit-spruiking before imbibing that night away, undoubtedly, as we fly home around midday the following day, Friday, no doubt frazzled at the edges.

As well prepared as I am, I'm treating the entire jaunt as a work junket. I know my stuff and delivery in a public forum isn't anything new. The big thrill for me is getting to fly again. Twice! It's been years since I last sat in a big metal bird and felt that rush as powerful engines push into your back and hurl you at several hundred knots high into the sky. I'm excited just thinking about it. I have one of my digital cameras packed together with the laptop, and the video cam will be going on-board with me. Rabble has arranged dial-up internet access for me while I'm away, so look forward to a few shots at random and maybe even a smattering of video footage as the days pass. I'm hoping to have some time to myself in the evenings when I can chat with Rabble via IM and process the odd photo and video, but I'm also totally unaware of what social aspects there are to this kind of trip. Time will tell, but here's hoping anyway.

You might see me here in the next week, and you might not, but rest assured, I'll be having an absolute ball.