Think Tank - Part 2

I’m still having flash backs of people met, projects discussed so to follow on from Think Tank part 1.

Sunday - Brain Storming
The day started pretty bad, firstly I slept in and missed breakfast (so body was now on US time) and then I discovered one of my servers was down, bad timing or what. An hour or so later playing with SSH and swapping emails with my host all was well and I was ready to meet the others. In the end I’d missed breakfast and the first hour of a brainstorming session which was pretty annoying.

The brain storming session took place in another restaurant, it consisted of speed dating like introductions (which I missed) but by this time most people had already spoken to everybody else. This was followed by group work where we could all discuss problems, sites, ideas and offer solutions. Other than the whole networking aspect this was one of the most useful elements of the weekend.

Next up was a trip to the “Secret”, not so much educational but certainly fun. DK is organising a poker tournament at Pubcon next month and needed a spokeslady/female tottie for the event so we had the hard task of mingling and marking (out of 10) a dozen or so beauties who each had to model an 3 different out fits that theyed created from the sponsors t-shirts, nice!

Next it was back to the beach for another BBQ (the previous nights was Mongolian which I forgot to mention, still getting flash backs). There could of been a bit more alcohol flowing and again a lot more networking, got some good advice from Zac Johnson for my speaking gig at a4u next week.

The evening rolled on (and on) and ended up turning into an all nighter. Spent most of it in the hotel foyer and have to thank Stefan for sharing his fisting domains, Slaven simply for being Slaven, Alex for showing us how do an all nighter (it was his second in a row) and sexy Shannon for providing me with a comfy pillow and a nice pair of ear warmers.

Monday - Travelling
Was able to take advantage of the exchange rate in the morning and replace my Tag watch with a nice Breitling. Rest of the next 24 hours was spent waiting around or travelling (SUV, Amtrak, bus, plane, tube, train and finally followed by car).

Conclusion
The weekend was something of an alcohol fuelled party. But alongside the drinking and games there was some excellent networking being done, and I can’t think of a better and more enjoyable way of getting to know people. I’ve made a number of contacts that I’ll be doing business with in the future and many what I hope will be life long friends. I’m also now something of a Twitter fan (follow me here) and find it a great way for keeping touch.

DK and his staff certainly know how to throw an event and when Think Tank 2 comes along I’m sure it will sell out fast, hopefully previous attendees will get first dibs. So massive thank you to DK, his team and all the other attendees for making it the fantastic weekend that it was.

About Al Carlton

Al quit the 9 to 5 rat race in January of 2007, before then he was a software engineer and systems architect of financial system. Nowadays Al spends the days running his various businesses and experimenting with different ideas and opportunities.
Al can be found on twitter at AlCarlton.

Comments

  1. Simply amazing! I would have loved this type of party for sure. It’s definitely a great way of networking and doing business with people.

    As you know, businesses throughout the world were affected by the event that happens in the U.S. That trauma has spread like fire even to the Pacific region. How incredible it is. Companies in Asia are taking retrenchment as an alternative to cut costs.

    Looks like, the online business is probably another idea for someone who’s out of work to look forward to. Think Tank definitely sounds like a good idea to hook up with people.

    Keith’s last blog post..Google Secretly Updates Google Chrome Version

  2. Sounds like you had a great time.

    What would you say the skew of businesses was like? Was it mainly Internet Marketers running their own sites with affiliate products? Or was it more marketers working for companies? I’d just like to figure out if it would be worth me attending next year.

    Justin Cook’s last blog post..What to do when you’re dropped from Google’s index

  3. Sounds like you had a great weekend, both useful and fun, definitely something for us other bloggers to aspire to!

    Zath@Technology Blog’s last blog post..Wolverine Claws

  4. Sounds like a great event, we could do with more stuff like this in the UK. My budget barely covers hosting costs, let alone travel to the US :)

  5. Sounds like you had a great time Al. Hope to see you next week at the WordPress North meetup… no beach in Leeds though :(

    Cheers, Jon

    Jon’s last blog post..Salon Websites - HourTown online scheduling software

  6. Sounds like my kind of party, even if I had to do a little work. I wish I would of been there to learn a little.

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