Finely Pressed

What a whirlwind week! I just got back from Amsterdam where we hosted a Servoy press tour for an “A-list” band of journalists: Joel Dreyfuss, Amy Wohl, and Dan Tynan.

Wow. Talk about getting a college education in a week...

These folks all have the official "been there, done that" T-shirt... but for everything. No really, literally - everything - and everyone.

These are the top-caliber folks whose Rolodex reads like a historical record of the computer industry. Need to talk to anyone (literally!) at IBM - see Amy. Want to talk to Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs or anyone else in the tech sector named Steve? Joel's got their home and unlisted cell numbers. Web 2.0 more of your thing? Want to talk to anyone with any sort of social-anything app? Dan's your man.

I mean, it was really, really amazing to listen to them recall their participation in, and input into, every single paradigm of computing from time sharing on the 8080 to the launch of the Newton to the dot com bust to where the future of computing is heading.

It took all the strength I had in the world to not just sit there and giggle like a Japanese schoolgirl!

Even though I have over 20 years of experience in tech and consulting all of my lame attempts at conversation would pop out of my mouth prefaced by "...one time, at band camp..."

These folks were not just knowledgeable, not just professional, but a helluva lot of fun as well. We jammed them in a van and rode them around the Dutch countryside to give them a taste of Holland. We dined in several nice restaurants where the default is a multi-course something-really-small-and-elaborate-in-impossibly-small-dishware.

They had some terrific advice on everything from marketing, presentations, venture capital and emerging markets. There was talk of social media, big-time corporate America, and European versus US business trends.

All-in-all it was a terrifically memorable (and awesome!) trip!