The People I Have Met

With the untimely and unfortunate passing of Martin Schaedel in a plane crash in Santa Monica I started thinking about meeting him at Pubcon in Boston back in 2003 and as I did my mind started to drift towards all the great people I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting over the years.  Many of you that I have met at various conferences, meet ups, and the like over the past few years have become great business associates and even more importantly great friends.  Some of these people I talk to on a regular basis, some of them I haven’t seen in years. I want to say a heart-felt thank you to all of you.

I know I will miss some people on this list so please don’t be offended if I forget someone and maybe I got the years wrong but through the years here are some of you that have stood out:

Pubcon 2002 in Irvine:  This was the first conference I went to and first put me in contact with some of you:

RC Jordan – Always up for a good meal and a great guy to just sit around and talk with for hours
Mackin (and Ruth Ann) – As has been said before “The party doesn’t start until Mackin gets there”
Todd Friesen (aka Oilman) – Probably seen him a dozen times since then.  Great guy and a great friend.

Pubcon 2003 in Boston: Many hours spent sitting at Dominics, the little pizza joint and bar next to the hotel

Martin Schaedel (aka lazerubb) – He was maybe 18 at the time but was far beyond most of us in experience
Toolman – Always good at pointing out the evil side of this business
Mark Bramley (aka NFFC) – A true Brit.
Scott Jangro – Fun times on the golf course, the craps table, the bar… Pretty much anywhere
John Cornella – Always a good conversation
Ken Lochridge (aka Drastic) – Great encouragement over the years
Dave Naylor (aka DaveN) – Never saw the guy without a beer in his hand

Pubcon 2004 in Orlando – A bunch of us rented a couple houses for a couple days and played in the theme parks. At the conference we pretty much spent all our time hunkered down in the corner table of the bar

Rasmus and Torben (aka The Vikings) – Always good to have some Viking blood around
Jennifer Slegg (aka Jensense) – I might have met her in Boston but then she made the mistake of sitting at our table in Orlando which I am sure was life changing for her.  hehe

SAS Think Tanks 2007-2008

Pat Grady (aka Donuts, aka RhinoFish) – Still amazed Mackin drug us up to that biker bar in North Scottsdale
Missy Ward – One of the pillars of this industry
Brian Littleton – You name the golf course and I will do my best to be there.  Thanks for everything
Jason Rubacky – Keep your champagne off the table dude
Todd Farmer – One of the nicest guys in the industry.  Maybe I just don’t know him well enough yet…
Stephanie Lichtenstein – How many marshmallows?

Affiliate Summits 2006-2009

I can’t remember all of them but you hopefully know who you are.

I am sure I left off many, many people and I apologize for that.  But for those of you out there who just go to the conference and don’t meet people I would encourage you to talk to people, buy them a meal or a drink, sit up all hours talking in hotel lobbies, restaurants, bars, etc. and get to know a lot of people.  Many of them will become great friends over the years and you never know the last time you will see them.

Thanks to all of you.