I'm in San Francisco, which is over 1000 miles from home. I'm attending Harlan Kilstein's Six-Figure Copywriting conference (which I am scheduled to speak at tomorrow and Sunday). The conference is taking place at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport Hotel. I had a serendipitous event take place around 10 am.
I can't remember why, but I got up from my seat in the conference room and walked out into the hallway. The room was off the beaten path in the hotel and not heavily trafficked. Within minutes, I spot one of my dearest friends in the whole world walking up to me with a huge smile on his face. David lives in Texas. I live in Oklahoma. We were both incredibly surprised and delighed to find out that we were both attending meetings directly across the hallway from each other!
David works for MacAfee, as a tech support manager. It turns out that they had a national managers meeting at the Hyatt. What are the odds that two great friends from different states would both be traveling on business to the same state, and in the same city, attending a meeting at the same hotel, in meeting rooms directly across the hall from each other, and both be in the hallway at the very same time so that an encounter could take place? Seriously, what are the odds?!?!
Anyhow, we decided that we would get together this evening. After my meeting was over, I took a cab to Pier 39 at Fisherman's Warf in San Francisco. I met Davy there and we strolled along the bay, caught up on each other's lives and enjoyed a fine meal at a local eatery. Capping it off with an unecessary stop at Ghiradellis, we then took a cab back to our hotels.
We joked that perhaps we would accidently bump into each other in a foreign country some day. It is indeed a small world after all!
Great story, Joel. Hope you're having a great time there in San Francisco! :-)
This has happened to me several times...like sitting in a plane next to a friend from another continent...by chance.
Joel...Now you and your friends can plan your own Escape to Thailand...The Land of Many Smiles.
My co-worker and I are trying to find a great writing conference this fall. DMA in SanFrancisco is too big and too expensive. Any ideas? We do direct mail, student support materials, travel etc.
Thanks!