My 25-year-old daughter Miranda, THE former Buck Wheat of these pages, arrived home last week after four-months napping across Mexico.
THE kid’s appearance celebrated, despite some pre-arrival drama which was particularly on-brand!
Despite the incentive, my schedule last week left little time for entertaining THE kid; who looks like she’ll be sleeping for a few more days anyway.
On my calendar was my ongoing work with an international manufacturer of paint sundry products who engaged me to help them better understand THE independent dealer channel as THE company considers a significant investment in the U.S. market.
Interested in early-feedback to inform their strategic decision making, I was engaged to hand-select a group of dealers and host a focus group which should allow my client to best determine where their opportunities lay.
The first step in what may become the company’s largest initiative in more than a decade!
As the only member of the team who has ever stepped inside an American paint store, it will be my job to decide which products get invited to THE party!
But with a product line as broad as their American counterpart’s job-one was to narrow the field to just the number of products we can reasonably expect to discuss during the 90-minute focus group.
THE Show
THE gig has my office looking as if it's part man-cave and part AllPro show; like the one which took place in Phoenix last week!
As a former memeber of THE buying group, it’s hard to see pictures from the AllPro show and not pine to be including in the bi-annual ritual.
With more than 1400 dealers and vendors in attendance, this year’s show would have been my best opportunity to reconnect with the friends of my 30-year dealer-career.
Each AllPro shows opens and closes with a party sized for the occasion, with the closing party known as the event’s blow-out with entertainment and food worthy of THE group's stature.
This year’s closing party featured the rock band Styx, giving those in attendance an exciting opportunity to see an iconic rock band in so small a setting.
Which under normal circumstances would make my jealousies rage! But Guy and I had other plans which would help me keep my envy in-check!
Filling My Prescriptions!
The first time I saw Springsteen perform live would have been circa 1980. Riding my bike to the train station in White Plains, New York I would have rode the Metro-North train south to Grand Central Terminal, before walking the last 20-blocks to THE world’s most famous arena: Madison Square Garden.
Likely stopping to buy a joint as I walked through Times Square!
One notable upgrade since that first Bruce concert will be the quality of the weed I’ll be smoking while THE Boss wails. Rather than buying a dime-bag from a Times Square peddler, I’ll land a stash from my new dealer: THE state of Connecticut!
Note: After posting this, Springsteen postponed the show due to illness, UGH! But alas, it was too late to re-write THE blog.
