The Seattle trip went really well. We flew out VERY EARLY Monday morning, had a brief layover in San Francisco, then arrived in Seattle around lunch time (Seattle time). We worked in the Seattle office for a few hours and then headed to a fun restaurant/bar called Mexico for happy hour. A few margaritas and some nachos later, we went to grab dinner. It made for a long day -- by the time we went back to our rooms it was after midnight our time, and most of us had started our day around 4:30 a.m.
No, I didn't take these, but they give you an idea of how beautiful the city is.
The good thing about going to Seattle though is that even when you have to be in to the work at 8 a.m., it feels like you slept in. So I was fully rested for a another packed day on Tuesday. They put us in a bunch of meetings/brainstorm sessions with the Seattle folks, which was great.
For those of you who have no idea what I do -- I'm a copywriter for a fundraising agency that works with nonprofits. I write all sorts of fundraising packages for a range of clients. So during these brainstorm sessions we come up with concepts for new fundraising appeals and kind of talk through them. It's a chance to get fresh ideas by pulling together creatives (that's what people who write or design are called) from different teams. The great thing about the Seattle office (which is actually the company that Merkle, who I work for now, bought) is that their creative department has about 30-45 people in it. Ours has 7.
We spent about 2 hours coming up with ideas for fundraising packages for our mission clients, which are nonprofits that run things like soup kitchens, homeless shelters, adult education centers, rehabs, and services like that. Not to brag or anything, but my idea won. OK, so I guess that is bragging, but it was cool to be with all these people who have been in the biz for many more years than me and come up with the winning idea. Good stuff.
The rest of the trip was pretty routine business stuff followed by a nice dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with very good wine. The only noteworthy event here is that I chickened out on ordering the baby octopus appetizer. I just couldn't do it, and I'm grateful because when they brought it out, it still look like an octopus -- suction cups and all. I had lentil soup instead. I know, what a daredevil, right?
So that's it for the Seattle trip. Hopefully I'll get to out there at least a couple times a year. That's the plan anyway. We'll see.
Next weekend we're off to meet the newest MacAlpines -- William and Katherine. But first we'll celebrate our 3rd anniversary on Tuesday. I took the day off so we could go spend a day on the Chesapeake. I think we're going to pack a lunch and maybe rent a canoe or small sailboat or something and just spend the day on the water. I'm looking forward to it!
