Week 26 Summary - Launched!

Last Sunday night Sam and I flew down to Monaco through Amsterdam.   The big fund industry tradeshow is in Monaco each year.  After the big push to get everything completed we were exhausted, but excited for the show.

We got in late and went straight to the hotel room.  We were sharing a hotel room to save money because we’re still in start-up mode.  In true European fashion the room was tiny and the beds really close together.  We pushed them as far apart as we could and went to bed.

For me that lasted all night as Sam is a pretty good snorer so I was up all night.  I’m really sensitive to snoring and didn’t bring any ear plugs.

On Monday, we had a setup day before the big White Night party that night.  Our partner, KNEIP, sponsors the event at the TWIGA.  The TWIGA is a fancy night club right on the water.  Everyone has to wear white to get in.  We had both purchased white clothes and shoes. 

After setting up we took an hour nap and got dressed for the big party.  Monaco is a very interesting place.  On the way down we walked past the Monte Carlo Casino.  It is the super famous casino of the rich and famous.  Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, Bentley’s, Rolls and Bugati’s are all parked out front.  You either have a scooter in Monaco or a super car. 

We felt absolutely ridiculous strolling past all of these fancy cars in our “baptismal clothing.”  I laughed at us the whole way there.  We finally got inside the party and didn’t feel so bad because everyone else was in white.  We spent the night drinking non-alcoholic fancy drinks while 400 other attendees got drunk.    The food was good and they had some soccer games going on the big screen, so we survived the night.  Those types of events are always difficult because the music is so loud that you can’t talk to anyone without shouting.

The highlight of the event was the Derivitives.  Two guys from KNEIP are excellent musicians and sing 5-6 songs re-written with fund industry terminology.  They had everyone jumping and dancing around like they were 15 at a middle school party.

We stayed up until about 1:00 am and then headed home.  I didn’t get much sleep again as I forgot to get ear plugs.

The next morning we had to be up early to start the show.  We sent out a press release at 9:00 and launched the product.  People were very receptive to the product, but now the rubber meets the road as we start to sell it.  The next few months will be very telling as we make modifications to make it everything prospective customers will want.

The show ended about 6:00 and the night festivities began.  We got invited to a really fancy Russian owned restaurant overlooking the Monaco harbor.  The harbor looks like Lake Powell except the houseboats are all yachts.  We saw the biggest super yacht I’ve ever seen parked in the harbor.  We heard it was a Saudi oil guy that owned it.  These guys have serious money.  The yachts were 50-500 million dollars a piece.  To give you an idea of this place, one of the menu items was 1400 euros.

The dinner ended up being a 7 or 8 course amazing dinner.  KPMG Ireland sponsored it and were very gracious.  That was 4.5 hours, so at 1:00 am we all headed to the next party.  We all walked into the Buddha bar and within seconds we knew it wasn’t a place a couple of Mormon boys should be hanging out.  There were professional ladies of the night all over the place.  We literally lasted 30 seconds and walked out.  Monaco is a pretty open place for high-end prostitution.  It was everywhere.  The hotels, the streets, the bars, etc.

Our hotel was about a 20 minute walk up hill so we walked the Monaco grand prix course and made it back to the hotel about 2:00 am.  Ouch!

If you’ve ever been to a tradeshow there is a lot of repetition.  We did the same thing for the next couple days, including staying out late.  Luckily the world cup occupied most of the time.  It is pretty amazing how much alcohol was consumed by the people taking care of the world’s money!  The final night we were with some folks that could barely string sentences together.   One of the guys from KNEIP, Troy, saved my life by giving me some ear plugs so I could sleep.  They did the trick and I was able to get some sleep the last two nights.

We were super glad when the show ended Thursday and we caught the flight back home to Luxembourg.  We stopped in Amsterdam and watched the U.S. lose to Germany.  It was bitter sweet as Portugal beat Ghana sending the U.S. to the round of 16!

This weekend I pretty much slept and lounged around the entire weekend.  It was the first weekend that we haven’t done something.  It felt good to catch up on some much needed sleep.  I’m going to work a couple days and then we’ll head out to visit London and Scotland for a week.  It will be great to spend some time with the family.

We enjoyed talking to the family via Google+ on Sunday.  Kim’s parents are leaving for their mission to Frankfurt for 2 years on Monday.  It will be fun to see them in a couple weeks.

We’re looking forward to seeing Emilee’s friend Tori and then heading home for 3 weeks in August!  Hard to believe we’re over ½ way through our European Adventure!