Winter Dealer Meeting 2007

After a week of traveling, I have finally had the opportunity to sit down at my computer, and spit out an update into the life of a jet-set working girl =) I must admit that after a week away from home, my life is feeling a bit disorderly, and chaotic and I have a feeling it's going to take me a few days to re-enter some sort of routine and organization. But alas, chaos of life aside, I am long over-due for a blog update (as is usually the case) so I have set aside a few minutes here to stop unpacking, sit down on the chair, and hammer away on my little keyboard.

My trip to Orlando, FL this past week was both exciting and exhausting, with a range of emotions thrown somewhere in between that spectrum. As I departed General Mitchel International Airport early Friday morning, destined for my first event far away from home, I had much anticipation for what lay ahead of me in those coming 6 days and I hoped that at the end of it all, I would be able to leave with a reaffirmation that I was truly destined to be in the events industry.

It was tough at first to grasp what I was supposed to be doing with myself, but I think most of that stemmed from my insecurity of wandering around a strange city by myself, representing a company I had only been employed by for three weeks. But the independent girl in me took over eventually and after getting my bags, finding the hotel shuttle, and checking into the hotel I was ready to begin my assignment.

I arrived to a convention hall bustling with union workers and a few of my fellow employees who had arrived earlier in the day, working hard to get the events center ready for the coming show. I found my boss, and after a quick chat, I was put right to work. The rest of the marketing employees trickled in throughout the rest of the day and at 6:00 we all decided to call it a night, and I hit up the closest seafood/sushi bar with a few of my female co-workers to put a cap on the hard day of setup.

The remaining couple of days went pretty much the same way, minus the air travel of course. Get up, grab coffee, set-up, go home. By the time Monday came I was so exhausted from the 10 hour work days, that I found myself happily in bed by 8:00 each night.

Monday was the first day of the show and from what I hear it went really well. I spent the first day doing mindless tasks like handing out promotional t-shirts and assisting my boss with seminars. The next few days of the show I wandered around the show floor feeling pretty useless. It's hard to find your place occasionally in such a large company, especially when you're so new and your skill sets haven't exactly been determined yet. My boss tried to keep me as busy as possible, but for the most part I just stood around and smiled, trying to make myself look busy =)

The show wrapped up on Wednesday, and a few of us celebrated with an outing to Downtown Disney for some yummy Cuban food, plenty of Mojitos, and some dancing at the local Irish pub. It was the perfect end to a long hard week.

And with that, my week ended. I boarded my flight back home early Thursday morning and I was back to work today. As I look back at the week I have to say that it wasn't exactly what I had envisioned it to be, but I can't say that I'm dissapointed either. I think for my first show it went as well as it could have. I learned a lot, met a lot of great people, and familiarized myself with yet another gorgeous US city =)

In getting back to my previous inquiry: Am I cut out for the events industry? I think it's still too soon to say, but I'm optimistic for what lies ahead. My next stop is Daytona Beach, FL at the end of this month. It'll be one more event closer to figuring out my true professional calling in life, or if nothing else a fabulous excuse to hang out away from the bitter cold of Wisconsin for two weeks.