Last year’s Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s (EO) Nerve Conference was held in Atlantic City. This year, it was held in Washington, D.C. Last year, I stayed in Atlantic City for the weekend. This year, I stayed in Washington for a day.
I decided to work from HJMT’s city office on Thursday. I figured since I had to go to JFK Airport, it made sense for me to work out of the city office. At around 4 pm, I was packing up to get ready and I sent Kristie Galvani, Senior VP from HJMT, an instant message asking her what time she thought I should leave.
“What time is your flight,” she wrote.
“It’s at 5:40 pm,” I wrote.
“You betta go… ” she wrote and with that I noticed the time, packed up my backpack and headed out of my building onto the street to 55th and 3rd, where I kept my car. As I was walking down the street, I kept thinking I would miss the plane.
I got into my car and drove down Second Avenue to 34th Street. I needed to go through the tunnel to get to Queens. Everything was backed up. It was bumper to bumper traffic. I started to get nervous but didn’t panic.
I drove at a snails pace through the tunnel. I went through the toll booth and continued at 3 miles an hour on the Long Island Expressway (495). Time was ticking and I was starting to get nervous.
I got to the intersection of the Grand Central Parkway and the Van Wick. It was 5 pm. I was now starting really panicking but kept driving.
I got to the airport at 5:25. I parked in short term parking and ran with my heavy backpack, my big rolling suitcase and my bag. I got to the security guard at check in and begged her to cut the line because my plane was leaving in a few minutes. She let me. I ran to the gate and was the last one on the plane. It was 5:38 pm.
Once I was in Washington (first I flew to Dulles which is an hour away from Washington), I dropped off my bags at the hotel and joined the EO cocktail party. It was great seeing my fellow chapter members. It was also amazing to see people I met last year at this conference. I felt so comfortable.
After hours was held at a bar called Hudsons, which was down the block from the Ritz Carlton, where we all stayed. An hour later, I said my goodbyes and headed back to the room. I was totally exhausted!
The next day, I woke up to find that I couldn’t find my iPod, which meant that I couldn’t go to the gym. I was really upset. (I got all dressed up with no place to go…) So, I took a shower, got dressed for the conference and joined the breakfast downstairs in the ballroom. After breakfast, we had Ted Leonsis speak about the business of happiness.
Following that, I saw Matthew Weiss give a presentation on SEO’s. He was terrific! I even got a free Seth Godin book out of it! Thanks Matt!
Lunch was next, followed by Jeff Skiles, who was the co-pilot of the plane that landed in the Hudson River. It was fascinating to hear about the occurrences of the days leading up to and after the crash.
I ended the one day conference with Greg Lederman who spoke about systems and customer service. His presentation was lively and kept my attention for the 90 minutes, which says a lot about him as a speaker.
After his presentation, I hustled to the bellhop to get my luggage and take a cab back to Dulles. I had two hours to kill before my flight boarded, so I got a quick bite to eat and headed over to the gate. I sat myself down on the floor by the gate and plugged my computer in.
I heard my name. I looked up and there was Jordan Finger, a fellow member of the EONY Board. I was so glad he was there because our plane was delayed a few hours and it was nice to connect with him and wait for the plane at the same time.
At 11:30 pm the plane landed back in JFK. I was exhausted. I couldn’t remember where I parked. Did I park in short term? Yes. What floor? Mmmm.. Then I remembered, spot 202, which is the area code for Washington, DC. Interesting how things turn out…
???????? ???? ? ????????????…
Last year’s Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s (EO) Nerve Conference was held in Atlantic City. This year, it was held in Washington, D.C…..