Latest in Boeing's Airliner Fleet

The Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" took its first test flight today and I only know that because the West Seattle Blog posted an etry about the event, which happened today at Boeing Field in the Seattle Area. This plane looks amazing. Larger, more efficient, updated interior/exterior designs, longer direct flight capabilities and etc.... The list goes on and on!

Seriously, look at that overhead bin storage!!!!

These planes will be flying on a ton of airlines, but, my fellow program managers, keep an eye out on Northwest, Continental, and Air Canada for your best bet at being the first BER employee to ride one of these puppies. Customizable window tinting? For real, I'm excited.

Staying fit on the road

Of all ways to start the morning, starting it right is the best.

The view of a peaceful sunrise from above a blanket of early morning clouds is probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a long time. As we took off from Seattle around 8:00 a.m. this past Sunday, we broke through the low-laying clouds and all I could see in the distance was a blanket of smooth gray, a brilliant orange sun, and most of Mount Rainier rising above it all. Stunning, but my camera was in the overhead with the seatbelt sign still on (not yet at cruising altitude). The assured chastisement by the flight attendants was surely not worth interrupting my mental image capture of that scene.

I'll check my phone for pictures, but I doubt any will do it justice.

Canuck Extravaganza

This week is my first week in Canada, with or without work. Ontario's got all my attention for the first three days of this week: Ottawa on Sunday/Monday, Toronto on Monday/Tuesday, and Hamilton on Tuesday/Wednesday before heading across the border (eh?) to Buffalo on Wednesday/Thursday. The first night in the country, staying at the Hilton Garden Inn near the Ottawa Airport was awesome! Not sure if it was because I asked about a free room upgrade, but the room I got, pictured above, was HUGE!

Probably comparable in size to the living room of my last house in Orlando (huge, by the way), I had way more space than I really needed. Even though I passed on the option, the hotel has "Stay Fit Kits" for free rental in order to do just that, but in the privacy of your room. Apparently available at all Hilton Garden Inns, these kits include tools to accommodate three different areas of training: Yoga, Pilates and Core. Check the link for more info, but needless to say, I was very impressed with this very modern, very comfortable hotel (they stay even included the oft-desired minifridge and microwave!).

Worktime Water park

Chicago North (Elk Grove Village) is awesome. You never would guess from the outward appearance of the area surrounding the Holiday Inn we use there, but a quick drive into the residential areas will show you that it's actually a nice place. Not to mention the apparently affluent Elk Grove Park District, which, among other things, has the Rainbow Falls Water Park. Situated directly adjacent to both a high school and a middle school, who in their right mind would NOT skip school to go hang out at the water park when it's open for the season?!

Check out the park district's website for other great attractions in the Chicago North area. Program managers: take note of this site, only a few miles from the hotel, for the warmer months. Probably a great post-seminar relaxation place (if your presenter's way cool, of course) or, if you're willing to place a bet on it, a quick lunchtime stress-reliever.

Philadelphia Welcomes the Prints

Fellow program managers and print lovers, be aware of the upcoming print extravaganza being hosted by The City of Brotherly Love from January through April, 2010: Philagrafika 2010!


Printmaking blog, Printeresting, has written up an in-depth article about this insane collection of presentations, museum showings, exhibitions, and etc, so please check it out [ here ]. It seems as though this will be America's largest print-related event, which makes me giddy.

Since the BER program managers are very often in the Philly area, I suggest each of you take some time out to view the amazing art on exhibit starting next year. A map of all the associated venues and events can be found [ here ].

I'm excited to waste away some evening or lunch break absorbing all that is print. Official site is [ here ] for viewing.

Rewards Cards Reduction

It’s been a few weeks on the road now and I’ve gotten down into the swing of things. I still have yet to experience some of the craziness that some of my cohorts have, especially in regards to weather and stressful participant situations, so I will consider myself lucky for now. In preparation for all the traveling we do for this job of ours, I spent a little bit of time designing a credit-card-sized format for keeping track of all the various rewards clubs we’ve all signed up with. Below are the two sides for this card, which include all the rewards programs that I have personally signed up for; some of the airlines probably aren’t traveled that frequently with BER, but the content of this card is merely an outline for what it can be useful for.

Really, it helps reduce the number of cards that already clutter our wallets and purses in, hopefully, a visually-conducive way. I’ve attempted to work with this size format to make it easy to fit this in behind a credit card or ID, so the fonts are fairly small, but the current version of the design is easily legible for me. Also, space is an issue because I tried to indicate which hotels and airlines are partners with the program for which I applied; there’s no sense in applying to two separate airlines that would actually let you earn miles with one joint account. Consolidate, not disseminate.

I urge you other Program Managers, and anyone else, to look at the design, consider if it’s something you would like, and contact me about making you a copy. If you’re Photoshop savvy, I can send you my original .psd file, but some fonts are unique to the Windows 7 operating system, so take that into account. I have personally printed mine on heavyweight cardstock and have since laminated it to protect it from wear and tear in my wallet. It has worked wonders for me; hopefully it will for you too!