Over 10 years in Asia

Sept. 19, 1996
Kimpo
Duration 6 months

That's what the stamp reads in my old old Canadian passport. First stamp, first time in Asia, and first time back to Korea. Back then Kimpo was still the International Airport in Seoul, Korea and I was 22.

It's hard to believe with the exception of a couple weeks/year I've spent over 3,650 days in Asia. If you count the first year of my life, in total I've almost spent 1/3 of my life in North-East Asia. Not exactly what I wrote in my Ballenas Secondary School year book when asked where do you see yourself in the future.

Duration 6 months... huh... shows how much those Korean immigration officials know.

Official Global Product Marketing Manager

It was officially announced today.

Though I have been doing the job for awhile, it was nice to see the "official" recognition.

Look forward to doing what I can to help drive business for Trend.

SMB Nation- Day 2

Ramon Ray- What customers want, originally uploaded by jdgemm.

Here's a session I attended. Listening to a panel about managed services.

After sessions, many people/vendors hosted parties including Trend. The attendees are a great bunch and also it's a good opportunity to get a better understanding of them and their world.

Show time

Show time, originally uploaded by jdgemm.

Day 1 at SMB Nation.

Had lots of traffic visiting our booth.

Although there are always issues, it's nice to hear resellers talk about how much they like and rely on our products.

Journey to Bainbridge Island

As sponsors of SMB Nation we were invited to an appreciation party on Bainbridge Island.

Ferry takes approx. 35 minutes and reminded me of an older, poorer version of a B.C. Ferry.



Harry and his wife Kirstin were kind enough to invite us to their home. Kirstin said she summitted Mt. McKinley this year. Really cool.

The theme of the party was Oktoberfest with lots of German beer, and sausages. There were also German musicians/dancers as well as a wandering magician.

Harry has some spectacular views from his porch.

Entire set is here.

Post-recording

Post-recording, originally uploaded by jdgemm.

Wayne and Eric after a solid session of interviewing.

Both guys were kind enough to spend time with me and answer many questions.

I used my trusty Olympus WS-300M digital voice recorder.

At this stage I'm suffering from jet lag.

Trend and Correct

Trend and Correct, originally uploaded by jdgemm.

Here's Wayne and Maggie before dinner at the Tap House Grill in Bellevue, WA.

Always good to keep communication flowing and Wayne provided lots of valuable feedback from his POV.

Two lessons learned...

Two lessons learned right at the beginning of this trip.

1. You can't take toothpaste in your carry-on if travelling to US (ended up donating mine in Taipei).

2. My Canadian passport is legitimate. Much appreciation to US immigration officials for verifying the authenticity. Unfortunately it took nearly and a hour and a half of waiting, but only 5 - 10 minutes of actualy interview time. Good thing I wasn't on a connecting flight.

Return to SMB Nation- 2006

It's already been a year, but I'll be returning to SMB Nation this week in Redmond, Washington near Seattle. I attended the show last year:

Redmond and SMB Nation Conference

SMB Nation 2005

It'll be fun to see familiar faces and of course grok these folks as much as possible.