The MoPR Blog

It can’t be Friday afternoon already? Can it?

Our trip together is nearing an end.

Wireless industry event? Check.
Planning meetings? Check.
Lunch at Harvey’s? 3/4 check.
Shopping? Check.
Client meeting? Check.
Pitch meeting? Check.
Celebration dinner? Check.
Headshots? Check.

A tremendously packed week, but a tremendously great week. We’re definitely a solid team. We could probably beat Ghana in soccer if the chance ever arose. We’re definitely the team a mobility technology company wants running their PR, that’s for sure. So many fun memories… how John S, recovering from a bout of bronchitis the week before, couldn’t stop coughing… how John G left behind his sun glasses and had to squint in the bright sunlight… how we listened to just one song on Melissa’s iPod before deciding to entirely forego music in the car…

Making it even greater, the mobility technology t-shirt we found in a souvenir shop in Vancouver and Stacy’s prize winning photograph to capture the moment.

From the Japanese “mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru” meaning: see no jargon, hear no jargon, speak no jargon. Hmm… We’ll have to pitch that to influencers and see if there is any messaging pull-through.

Because of the interesting colors and contours, the Experience Music Project in Seattle is a great backdrop for headshots of the non-avian variety.

It was kind of fun to be the center of attention. There we were dressed in suits, a photographer with a big camera, bigger lens and even bigger bag of equipment snapping shots of us from all kinds of angles. There were the single shots, then shots in pairs, then group shots.

Our photographer, Jeffrey LeBlanc, was awesome. Not only is he also in the mobility biz himself, he is enormously creative and fun to work with! If you need a photographer in Seattle, Jeff is your guy!

We used all kinds of mobility technology props, which was easy, because we normally carry all kinds of mobility technology. Melissa’s pink iPod and Stacy’s pink Razr no doubt will stand out.

Boatloads of tourists – and by that I mean tourists sitting in busses shaped like boats – passed by, gawking. Clearly we had to be local celebrities. Another photographer even joined in. We have no idea who she was.

Soon we’ll see the results. But getting our pictures taken was definitely one of the highlights of this trip.

It was not the bluebird of happiness, but the result was just the same.

We had engaged the services of a local photographer to take our company headshots. And just seconds before the first picture was about to be taken, I got another headshot. I was putting my phone into my computer bag when I felt something smack me in the head.

“That did NOT just happen,” I shouted, as my shocked colleagues stared in disbelief.

Seagulls… the rat bastards of the sky. One nailed me with… G-d only knows with what. These things are scavengers after all. It’s enough to make one want to wretch.

Fortunately, there were, um, potty wipes around. And Stacy and Melissa wiped down my head so I did not have to return to the Quality Inn and wash my hair immediately.

I managed to get through the 2-hour photo shoot. When I got back to the hotel, I lathered, rinsed, repeated a bunch of times.

There were many memorable moments on this trip, but the one that brings Stacy to laughter with tears is the time the seagull shit on my head.

There is a certain amount of superstition that accompanies a pitch meeting. For example, I packed enough clothing for three trips, but somehow managed to forget the belt that goes with my suit. So John G is insisting that if we win the business from the pitch to which I went beltless, I can never where a belt to a pitch again.

There is a superstition that being shat upon by a flying bird brings good luck. Given the pitch meeting the day before, I am happy to take one for the team. Once.