Wow here I am at last in the city that never sleeps. Several days in SOHO then up to speak in Nanuet bef ore several more days but close to Times Square.
Arrive at JFK and get a cab to the Holiday Inn - room not ready (as expected at 11.30 am). Park my bags and go for a walk. lose to Chinatown so streets full of stalls all selling much the same thing. How do they make a living. Plenty of street husslers for gold and silver buyers.
Get into my room and unpack ready for the next few days.
Monday 7th.
Have made contact with Bruce Sulivan and arranged to catch up on Tuesday. Amazing. We both live in Brisbane but meet in New York.
Take a walk around China town and get lost... well almost... so end up walking about 7 km and seeing much of this end of Manhattan. Chinatown is much the same as any other Chinatown.
Lots of sales on so I end up buying some T-shirts and a casual shirt.
Catch up on emails and confirm arrangements for Tuesday with Les Neumann.
Tuesday 8th.
Check out of hotel and walk to meet Bruce for a late breakfast.
Bruce and I end up spending the rest of the day together till I go back to the hotel to be picked up by Les Neumann for the speaking gig tomorrow.
Bruce suggests I get a USA phone so I have one I can just recharge next visit. Great service at the AT&T store.
What a great day we have and I learn so much more about this interesting man.
Les Neumann picks me up at 4 pm and I soon find out how far out of New York we will be. It crosses my mind that I will be travelling back to NY on my own and by public transport.
Out to an Italian restaurant for dinner and Les and I get on very well - most enjoyable evening. Into my hotel and I sleep well after finally deactivating the air conditioner that kept cycling on and off.
Wednesday 9th.
Les and his PA Sarah pick me up at 7 am and we are off the the White Plains mall and a Microsoft Store where I will be speaking.
The Microsoft store looks amazingly similar to an Apple store except there is a small area at the rear for meetings which is free to anyone via booking.
Meeting is small but presentation goes well. It is also broadcast to several hundred around the world. Here is a link to it. - http://youtu.be/4akNR73US5I
Then a lift to White Plains station and a ride back to Grand Central station. Train packed so I stand all the way.
Cab to Hilton Garden Inn which is only 1 street from Times Square - WOW!
I take a look around after unpacking and confirm that Jim Browning is coming in tonight. Dinner at a local restaurant and early night.
Thursday 10th.
Jim and I find a local restaurant for breakfast and I arrange for some laundry to be done on the way - again 10% of the hotel price. Then back for our 1st appointment with Tom Martin, ex producer of such TV icons as Good Morning America. Also to meet with Karen Jacobsen, the GPS girl who is the Australian voice of SIRI.
Then off to lunch with Moshe Weiss, another contact of Jim's, at a traditional Jewish restaurant. Moshe may be a website sale.
The rest of the afternoon free and then Jim takes me out to the best steak restaurant in Times Square.
Friday 11th.
Our appointment is cancelled so we do breakfast and then off to look around Times Square. Over breakfast I give Jim some feedback on his presentations. He leaves at 3 back to Atlante.
8 pm I go to The Lion King - fantastic.
Saturday 12th.
Booked to go up the Empire State Building this morning and it's overcast and foggy. I decide to save the ticket till next time.
In the afternoon I go to visit "the gps girl" who now lives with her husband in New York. A big move for a country gal from Mackay in Queensland.
Early night as I have booked a limo for 5 am for the 8.30 am flight to London.
Sunday 13rd.
Get a good seat at check in and buy a mini data projector at the Brookstone Store.
Easy flight and I sleep a good part of the way.
Heathrow Express to Paddingon station and walk to St Davids where they remember me and I get the same room as last time. My books & CD's arrived safely.
Monday 14th.
I spend the day getting a few things organised like a UK phone and a broadband sim for internet access on the Mac Book Air.
At night I find my way to Euston station and an informal meeting of 15 Ecademists organised by Phillip Khan-Panni. Phillip expresses interest in a website.
Tuesday 15th.
I go to a presentation on the new coaching/training business that Penny Power has created. It is on Social Media and both Thomas Power and William Buist are also there. Great concept. The MD of the new company is a good contact and he and I and William head off for a few beers afterwards.
Wednesday 16th.
Off to Carlisle which is only just south of the Scottish border to speak at the Chamber of Commerce. A 3 & 1/2 hour train trip on Virgin Trains. Excellent service, comfortable seats, internet access, very fast and on time. No surprise given its Virgin. I am met at the station and driven to my hotel.
Wednesday 16th.
The trip is half over having left Australia
on 1st.
Today I travel by Virgin high-speed train
to Carlisle, which is only 20 minutes south of the Scottish border. Great trip
and I get a seat with a table and am able to both enjoy the view and do some
work.
Mike Morris is there to pick me up and take
me to the Crown Hotel here I will stay overnight. We take a tour of Carlisle
first and then I check in and find my room has two single beds – can’t remember
the last time I even saw a single bed let alone in a hotel. Later I go for
short walk around the village.
At 6.15 pm I walk up to the restaurant
where I will present to the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce. I am the first one to
arrive so I get plenty of time to set up.
Great group and I get a coaching client as
well as some other business from the meeting.
Thursday 17th.
I get picked up at the hotel by Ian Readman
and we travel 45 minutes to Kentwell where I speak to the local branch of the
Board of Foreign Investment and Trade, about 15 people. I am the 2nd
speaker and this was arranged by Catherynn Dunstan.
Afterwards we travel back to Carlisle and I
catch the rain back to Euston and then the ube to Paddington. London is so easy
to get around.
Friday 18th.
Only one appointment and that is cancelled
due to the weather and William not even being able to get out of his driveway
to catch a train to London. This snow is certainly playing havoc with everyone.
Saturday 19th.
I speak at the London Professional Speakers
Association meeting – about 25 people. Good reception and many books sold. I
meet a past President, Alan Stevens, who is good friends with my friends
Lindsay and Debby Adams from Brisbane.
Afterwards a group of us go out for drinks
to Home House in Portland Place in the city which is a private club in a
beautiful old building.
Sunday 20th.
I travel to Chester to meet with Adam and
his girlfriend. As usual it is good to see him and catch up. My second trip on
Virgin fast trains and I am impressed with their speed, comfort and timeliness.
Adam and I take a walk through the city
centre and visit the old Cathedral which has a wall in it that dates back over
a thousand years.
Monday 21st.
Three appointments today – Andrew Horder,
Jaina Dadia and William Buist.
Andrew and I chat about the E-learning
concept and he looks like a potential for a site.
Jaina runs her own radio programme and
wants to interview me so we discuss all manner of things and will do the
interview when I get back to Australia Jaina has a special story in thet she
was on the bus that blew up in that terrorist attack in London and, feeling
that something was not right, got off 15 seconds before the bomb detonated.
I talk to her about the unique nature of
the story and we agree that she should call herself “the girl that got off the
bus” and build a brand identity around that. I check and find that the domain
name is available.
William has the date wrong so we don’t get
to meet.
Tuesday 22nd.
Two appointments today. Rupert at Royal
Festival Hall and Nicci Roscoe at Home House. Neither is of much value but I
get to go to Royal Festival Hall. Freeze my proverbials off walking across a
bridge over the Thames from Embankment Station. I really is freezing today.
Wednesday 23rd.
My last day in London. I have two appointments
and then off to Heathrow.
I check out of St Davids leaving my
suitcase there and have coffee with Clare Gillham and talk about a website.
Potential website purchaser.
Then off to the Paddington Hilton to meet
with Tim Bean and his wife Anne about them speaking in Australia and NZ in June
and me speaking in London in September. Great meeting and lovely people who
moved to the UK from NZ ten years ago. I have high hopes about this connection.
Off to Heathrow where I get a 4 seat row on
booking in with the other three seats blocked out – maybe I can get some sleep
on the way to South Africa. I change $1000 to Rand and end up with about 12,000
Rand – talk about my pockets bulging. However the venues in Durban only take
cash so I need to be prepared.
Thursday 24th.
I arrive in Johannesburg on time and
transfer to the Domestic terminal. Usual porters who hussle for your business
to get your luggage to the domestic terminal. Costs me 5 pounds as the smallest
Rand note I have is 100. Part of the culture so just roll with it. I have slept
fitfully on the overnight from Heathrow so am feeling washed out.
Barbara Johnson has organised for a taxi
driver named Ray to get me from the airport and take me to the venue where I
will speak that night. I have a room where I freshen up and have a sleep. The
owner of the BnB gets my laundry done and shirts ironed – fantastic.
24 people that night at the PSA event and I
am the main event with two sessions. It goes exceedingly well and I sell all my
books and CD’s with orders for more to be sent when I get back.
Finally I pack up and Barbara takes me to
the Retirement Village where she lives with her mother. I am in a Lodge with a
room equivalent to a Marriott… and for 450 Rand a night including breakfast
which equals $45 a night Australian.
Friday 25th.
First day at Le Domaine and I mix up
directions for the location of breakfast and sit down in a room for people from
the care facility at the village. There are only old woman there, two in
wheelchairs which should have been a clue for me that I was in the wrong room.
No-one says anything except good morning until a woman comes in and sits at the
same able and says “you’re sitting in my husbands seat”. Then in comes someone
from the centre and points me to the right location. Funny if you think about
it.
Saturday 26th
Australia Day back home so no celebrations
here. I spend a quiet day in The Clubhouse at Le Domaine accessing emails and
doing follow up. Barbara and he mother (Shona) take me to lunch at a restaurant
(one of their favourites) called Olive & Oil. Cute name and good food.
Sunday 27th
Barbara and her mother invite me to join
them in a family get-together at the Heritage Theatre Restaurant for a fabulous
afternoon show entitled “Don’t Tune Me In” – songs of the 70’s. here guys and a
band and so much fun.
Monday 28th
A very positive day with two appointments
from Durban PSA members – Stephen Smith and Claire Newton (President of the
chapter).
Claire takes me to lunch and we ended up
chatting for three and a half hours. Claire will undoubtedly be able to get me
some speaking engagements when I come back later this year.
Stephen was late as he went to the wrong
address and in our short time he asks many questions about the E-learning
sites. Most likely to buy one.
I finish the day with dinner with Barbara
and her mother.
Tuesday 29th.
Up early to go to Barbara’s BNI Chapter
meeting where I am speaking.
