Meeting A President at the Rainbow Room

I'm back in NYC where a light rain is falling on an internet cafe where you have to shovel dollar bills into the computer to keep it going. I'm pleased with my day. I took an early bus and made it to the Italian Tourism Commission in time for most of a presentation about Marche, a wonderful region that is little understood by American travelers. But it's one of the nicest parts of the country as Cindy and I have seen. The president of the province was here to talk about its charms and later we went out to the Rainbow Room above Rockefeller Center for a big fancy luncheon.

The food here is by Cipriani, and it was a buffet, and besides the dramatic round room, you can't really impress that much in this format. But it was nice to have some caviar and to enjoy a leg of duck and some of their signature champagne. I met a few staffers on the ad side of Conde Naste Traveler and a salesman for the Wall St. Journal. And a man I recognized from his photo in the NY Times ads--Steve Perillo of the Tour Company Perillo Tours.

Then I took a taxi downtown to meet a few of the principals in a very interesting young internet company. They have a business where they sell ads in five 'verticals' as the niches are known. Consumer electronics, fashion, finance and ahh yes, travel, that's our place. I have always found that meeting the president of a company that wants to do business with you makes it all the more positive. So I sat with Jeremy and Richard and we looked at our site and were all quite upbeat about the possibilities. This might just turn out to be a very good partnership!

Despite the fact that this is the internet, you just can't replace a face-to-face and a sit down conversation. As usual, NYC provides so much and once again I'm glad I made the trip.