Low-Key Business Dinner. Baby Steps.
May. 18th, 2022 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerBusiness travel has been resuming slowly over the past several months. It's like it's taking baby steps.
» In November we had a luncheon for area employees to meet the execs. It was travel in the sense that we went somewhere and met f2f... even though the travel was, for most of us, just a drive to downtown San Jose.
» The first flight for a business trip wouldn't happen until our Sales Kickoff in March... by which point it was my first flight for work in 2 years, 2 weeks, and 2 days! But even the SKO was just another baby step as it was an internal meeting, no customers.
» My first in-person-with-customers meeting since February 2020 is tomorrow. ...Though it's a drive-to event again; a trade show in San Jose. Baby steps!
» But I'll have a fly-to event with customers next week, in Austin... unless that gets canceled like many other events have so far this year! 😨
So, I'm presenting at a trade show tomorrow. I'm teaching a 2.5 hour workshop with a colleague who flew into town this afternoon. Our boss came into town, too, though he won't be helping with the class tomorrow. The three of us met this evening for a business dinner.
Business dinner. BUSINESS DINNER! An opportunity to carouse on the company dime! ...At least that's how many sales teams treat it. Our dinner this evening was low-key.
Oh, we killed a bunch of fish at a sushi restaurant near the hotel, but there was no carousing. The bill of $150 (before tip) for 3 of us included only $20 of alcohol. I had one beer, my boss had one small bottle of sake, and that was it as far as booze was concerned. We all had sodas or iced tea as our main drinks.
We didn't even stay out late. Normally a business dinner of colleagues who've scarcely seen each other f2f would stretch late into the evening. Tonight we wrapped it up at 6:30. Both my colleagues were tired and want to wind down doing other things. One wanted to call his wife. I dropped them back at their hotel and drove home. I was back in my own house a whiff after 7pm. 7PM! Most business dinners are only getting started at 7pm!
Baby steps.
» In November we had a luncheon for area employees to meet the execs. It was travel in the sense that we went somewhere and met f2f... even though the travel was, for most of us, just a drive to downtown San Jose.
» The first flight for a business trip wouldn't happen until our Sales Kickoff in March... by which point it was my first flight for work in 2 years, 2 weeks, and 2 days! But even the SKO was just another baby step as it was an internal meeting, no customers.
» My first in-person-with-customers meeting since February 2020 is tomorrow. ...Though it's a drive-to event again; a trade show in San Jose. Baby steps!
» But I'll have a fly-to event with customers next week, in Austin... unless that gets canceled like many other events have so far this year! 😨
So, I'm presenting at a trade show tomorrow. I'm teaching a 2.5 hour workshop with a colleague who flew into town this afternoon. Our boss came into town, too, though he won't be helping with the class tomorrow. The three of us met this evening for a business dinner.
Business dinner. BUSINESS DINNER! An opportunity to carouse on the company dime! ...At least that's how many sales teams treat it. Our dinner this evening was low-key.
Oh, we killed a bunch of fish at a sushi restaurant near the hotel, but there was no carousing. The bill of $150 (before tip) for 3 of us included only $20 of alcohol. I had one beer, my boss had one small bottle of sake, and that was it as far as booze was concerned. We all had sodas or iced tea as our main drinks.
We didn't even stay out late. Normally a business dinner of colleagues who've scarcely seen each other f2f would stretch late into the evening. Tonight we wrapped it up at 6:30. Both my colleagues were tired and want to wind down doing other things. One wanted to call his wife. I dropped them back at their hotel and drove home. I was back in my own house a whiff after 7pm. 7PM! Most business dinners are only getting started at 7pm!
Baby steps.
