( Inside Utopia III on the way to Cat Cay with Marc Ashley, Eddie Alberty and my wife Loren)

I couldn’t help but think how different things are now with the Internet and our digital cyber office that is always with us.  First, we would probably have never gone at all if we couldn’t stay in communication and have all of our work and files at our fingertips.  Marc definitely couldn’t have gone if he couldn’t stay in communication with the office during the Shop.com integration.  But none of that was a problem because we were wired in on the network by email and text and also connected to the team in Greensboro, North Carolina and Monterey, California.  It took about two hours to get to Cat Cay and what a beautiful ride it was.  Talk about paradise and a creative environment.

As we rode, we met and got organized and at the same time pumped out emails and instructions.  Eddie was on conference calls all day with the Shop.com team in California and Marc had two conference calls with Greensboro.  We met and reviewed the strategic plan.  In between we pounded the social networks and were able to promote the business and use the trip as content for social media.  We were able to communicate with thousands of people and motivate the organization and also fill the funnel.  We responded to hundreds of messages and posted responses on Twitter and Facebook.  I put out a couple posts on the MA network and noticed I had 20 leads I could send invites to to join me on MA network and I also sent messages to stir their interest.  Now that is working smarter rather than harder.  While I was doing this we got a couple alerts for hot deals so Loren jumped on the portal and placed orders with coupons.  This would have required hours of direct contact and I wouldn’t even know who was interested in what.  I was responding to people who liked what I posted or sent messages.  We all brainstormed about several marketing strategies and were able to share ideas by email and PDF attachments.  I guess we would have had to Fedex or fax it in the past.  This was instantaneous.

( old cell phone pre- blackberry era)

We were able to access the Internet the entire trip because of the satellite transmitter on the boat and could research a variety of concepts we were discussing.  We were able to go over our schedule and travel plans and consolidate our calendars.  Meanwhile we were able to work with Andrew and Natalia Weissman who traveled to California for meetings.  We were also able to communicate with  and Christian Karasiewicz, Internet Marketing and Social Media Manager, about our blog strategies and social media campaigns for Paid to Shop and the upcoming Blitz Tour.  This type of instant communication would have been impossible five to ten years ago.  I was able to go over all reports and financial data online.

( My wife Loren and I hitting the town in our golf cart)

When we arrived, we were met with golf carts to go look at home.  But we were able to stay on top of everything with our mobile devices staying ahead of the curve with 200 emails per day and popping out tweets and Facebook posts on what we were doing.  Cat Cay is such a beautiful place in the Bahamas.  We were offered an incredible deal on a beach front villa there and boat slip—a great destination for weekend getaways or strategic planning and management meetings.  It will really stimulate the brain storming process.

( Planning, meditating, reflecting on the beautiful property we found)

( the exterior of the property in Cat Cay)

While we were there we met several young people at the restaurant just out of college and showed them the portal and MA network application and got meeting sets up.  Loren got two people registered as preferred customers to get paid to shop.  The following morning we had a lovely breakfast on the boat and went to see a couple houses.  By the time we left we had two prospects for the business and were able to take them online to see the portal, the Shop.com media, and sent them a video link to watch part of the World Conference that really got them interested.  I couldn’t help but think that what I did in a day 5 years ago would have taken weeks.  We accomplish more in a day than most people do in a week.  I also couldn’t help but think how many people we interacted with about the business and at the same time we were able to measure, monitor adjust and control on all the critical processes at the company.  We could see the metrics of the Portal and all the order and financial data.  It snowed in NY and Amber returned for classes so I jumped on the Internet to remotely check on the apartment.  Might as well check what is going on at the house in Miami to see if people were doing what they were supposed to and I could do it right from my lap top.  I can even see where the cars are and have been by GPS tracking.  What an amazing world we live in.

On the way back we all banged out work and went through our routine of checking the toolbar and checking all the key sites and functions , checking our emails, and putting out critical messages and directions.  We had a great planning meeting on the way back, did scheduling and made calls or texted anyone we needed to be involved.  What a great escape and productive trip.  It was like we never left the office – because our digital cyber office came with us.  And we used the trip as content to stir interest and fill the funnel.  We shook up the bean jar with field communications all day.  And we got a full agenda on our to do list done and monitored what was going on in the business.  It is magic!  We had a great time but never got behind and got even more done—not to mention some of the epiphanies and great ideas or plans we came up with by interacting on the trip in paradise.

Check out photos from my trip to Cat Cay at www.facebook.com/jamesridinger

~Keep Growing

JR