Heading Down to the Big Apple for a Week of Networking

This will be an exciting week of networking. I’m heading down to the homestead in Blawenburg New Jersey on Tuesday evening, and then Weds I’ll see Mom and Dad and then head to my favorite parking garage in Jersey City NJ, and PATH-train it over to Manhattan that night. Thursday I’ll meet with dozens of tourism people at the IMM meeting, which brings people together, and Friday it’s time to hit the Javits Center for the New York Times Travel Show.

It’s the first time for the IMM meeting in New York, and the organizers are facing some headwinds getting all of the hotels nailed down, on this, the inaugural edition in the Big Apple.  They’ve been running these in Australia and Europe for many years.  I was happy to speak with Lauren, Nick and Dominika when I met with them at two of the past few travel shows, and they said this was going to be a great event.

Being in the city is always such an exciting feeling, there are so many colleagues who I’ve met along the 17 years I’ve been in the business, and somehow many, many of them end up in NYC at this time of year. So whether it’s at a writer’s party at Sebastian Junger’s Half King Bar in lower Manhattan, or on the Travel show floor, or at the one-on-one meetings on Thursday, it a day filled with promise, opportunity, and major league networking.

I’m pleased that Mary will be heading down on Friday to join me for dinner at the Sofitel hotel before she goes over to Park Slope to stay with her son and baby grandson.

And Sunday we give our travel writing presentation!