What is the protocol for taking pictures of other people’s pets? Is it similar to taking photos of someone’s children without asking? Does it fall into the creepy category?

I walk just about everywhere, and I have seen some of the cuuutest puppies and kittens on my walks! I usually want to take a picture of them, but then I stop because it seems a little strange. What if the owner sees me doing so? Well, this week I was able to see the owner with a puppy and asked permission.

I met Penelope, the 8-month-old St. Bernard on my walk home from work. How Adorable! Penelope could hardly sit still while I took her picture because she was so eager to come say “Hi.” Also posted above are a couple of photos that I took without asking the owners’ permission (oops)! These guys were just too cute!

Last weekend, I attended my first official CITO event! CITOs (Cache In Trash Out) are hosted globally by members of the geocaching community. Although I’ve been working for Geocaching.com for more than 2 months now, this was my first formal geocaching event. In the past, my geocache hunts have been done with family or friends, not with the greater geocaching community. It was a lot of fun to meet some the community and help to clean up the environment, just in time for Earth Day.

My colleagues, MissJenn and Dani were along for the CITO, as well. We chose to attend “This CITO’s a Beach” on the waterfront of Everett, WA. The event was hosted by the friendly johnny cache.

We cleaned up the waterfront and got to do some beach combing along the way. Our group found old tires, beer bottles, clothing, and some “wildlife.” I found a decaying Sting Ray, a fish head, and a crab claw. No, I did not touch the wildlife.

It was a fun morning outside; I encourage everyone to get involved in a CITO event! You can read MissJenn’s blog post about the event on Latitude 47, the impressive Geocaching.com blog.

This past ski season marked my 5^th year of ski instructing with the well-known Fiorini Ski School. The school has been in business for generations. Many of its students grow-up to become adults who teach for the school, and who later send their own children on the same path: from student to instructor. The Fiorini Ski School began operating in the 1940s, with Bing Crosby as one of its famous clients. 

Over the past 5 years, I’ve noticed that the art of ski instructing shares many parallels with the world of business. Although, I must admit, I have been ski instructing for the fun of it, and not seeing it as “work.” Following are many of the business skills that mirror those of teaching ski lessons to children: 

1. Manage expectations – It is important to manage the expectations of the students and of their parents, just as it is important to manage the expectations of clients and managers. It is important to be realistic about what can be achieved, and to be able to explain why certain actions make the most sense. Parents often want to chime in with what they think their child should be doing (such as, say, the most difficult terrain), just as a client may demand something that makes no sense (such as requesting a press release when what they really need is a FAQ page on their website).
2. Speak in a language your client understands – When speaking to a CEO who is not social media savvy, it is important to break down the digital media facts in lay terms to help him/her understand the bigger picture. Similarly, when speaking to a 6-year-old, it is important to stoop to their physical level when speaking to them, and to speak in a language of fun and adventure rather than technical terms.
3. Create a plan and execute – In business, it is important to create a plan of attack for each project: a marketing plan, a PR plan, a product launch plan, etc. In ski school, it is necessary to have a plan or progression for getting students from skill level A to B. These plans require foresight and research.
4. Think on your feet and be flexible, but stand your ground when necessary – Just as the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, the best laid marketing or teaching plan can go awry. Unexpected hurdles are nearly inevitable. Sometimes, a printing company will mess-up the official event invitations that were needed on deadline and an impromptu fix is required. And, sometimes you get unexpected ski conditions or an injury on the slopes. It is important to remain versatile and open to changes in plans. However, unexpected hurdles do not mean that you have no recourse. Do your best to improvise and remedy the situation and move to plan B swiftly. When met with inquisition, stand your ground and support your stance with facts and validation. “Yes, I know I had promised to let the kids do the black diamond run today, but because of all of the [ice/fog/child who wet their pants], we decided to work on X to keep their skills sharp for the challenging runs another day.” If you did something wrong, apologize promptly and fix the situation.
5. Provide excellent customer service – Communication and customer service are imperative to successful relationships, whether it be with parents, clients or managers. The more you can communicate clearly and directly, the better. Prove to your client that you have their best interest in mind and build trust. Explain why you take certain actions and not others. Educate them on what you do, and step up to the plate as an expert in your field.  
6. Leave your client wanting to do business again – One of the most important factors in ski instructing is and in business is leaving your client wanting to come back. For ski lessons, this means making sure that the kids have fun. Having fun is arguably more important than what the kids learn. If the children are having fun, they will stick with the sport and want to come back next year to continue learning. If they hated ski lessons, there are slim odds that they will be back next year. In business, it is important to end a project on a positive note to ensure repeat business and the ever-valuable word of mouth referral for new business.

Above is a photograph of my adorable ski class for the 2010-2011 winter season. It is difficult to see, but there are smiles on each of their faces.

After the Berlin Marathon attempt, which made my knees hurt for a while, I was hesitant to run full-force just yet. Instead, I convinced my dad (an avid walker, logging 30+ miles/week), to join me for the Seattle Half Marathon walk event. It was a fun father-daughter activity and we lucked-out with dry Seattle weather!

Just a couple of weeks after being back from vacation in Germany, I was off to Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Kyiv again. The trip was for office visits and Casual Connect Kyiv 2010.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen. The architecture is incredible and the people are a lot like Pacific Northwesterners. I always look forward to visiting Amsterdam. The Europe office for GameHouse is called Zylom and is located in Eindhoven, a couple of hours from Amsterdam. Next time that we visit, we will have to stay in Eindhoven rather than Amsterdam because it seems like a lovely area to explore.

Casual Connect Kyiv 2010 was a nice opportunity to find new partnerships with game developers. It was also nice to visit with our current partners from Eastern Europe and Russia. However, it is always a treat to come back to Amsterdam after Kyiv. This time, we stayed in the Yotel hotel at Schiphol Airport on our way out of Europe. It is a funny little pod-style hotel located upstairs by the food court at Schiphol. We thought it would be fun to stay there, and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we liked it! Although, after having a very-smokey hotel room in Ukraine, almost anything would be a pleasant change (most certainly).

With the Berlin Marathon out of the way, the rest of the trip was quite relaxing. : ) After Berlin, we went to Goettingen, where my boyfriend grew up and where his sister’s family lives. We were able to stay in the newly renovated downstairs flat at his sister’s house. Goettingen is known for its strong ties to academics. It is a university town and many famous scholars are from the area.

There also happens to be a wonderful bakery in Goettingen, called Cron & Lanz. What an amazing place. We had lunch and afternoon tea there one day, and went back for desserts another day. We also brought home treats for my parents, who also have an affinity for bakeries. : )

Also on the trip, we stayed in the beautiful little town of Elvershausen, in the countryside, where my boyfriend’s parents have a beautiful property surrounded by rolling hills of farm land.

To wrap up our visit to Germany, we spent a few more days in Berlin. The Ritz-Carleton Berlin had lovely accommodations and tasty afternoon tea. We found a restaurant in Berlin called “Lutter & Wegner,” which is quite similar to our last names, “Luther & Weckner.” : )

Proof image from the Berlin Marathon

On September 24, I was off to Germany again. This time, the trip was for vacation with my German boyfriend. He has run 35 marathons and signed us up for the 2010 Real Berlin Marathon. I have never wanted to run a full marathon, but I figured that I should at least give it a try. I trained to 20 of the 26 miles. More training would have been ideal. We arrived on September 25 and the race was on September 26. The morning of the race, we felt great and woke up ready to win.

The downfall was the rain (no pun intended) and the fact that we had been sitting on an airplane for the past day. We started the run, soaking wet from the rain, and my knees began to hurt within the first mile. I don’t know what exactly went wrong, but I only made it to about mile 16 when we decided that it wasn’t worth the pain and stress on my knees. : (  We cut out of the race and went to the subway station, where I almost passed out from exhaustion. When we arrived at our hotel, Sofitel Berlin, the front desk staff cheered us on for our successful finish (oops!).

Half marathon #6 for me was the Super Jock ‘n Jill Half Marathon in Woodinville on September 6, 2010. I think that the time was kept incorrectly for this race. I believe that the timing chip only recorded the time that I passed the finish line, and that the start time was recorded as the universal start time for the race event (not the actual start time that each individual crossed the start line). I think I ran a 2:00:00 or under race (my PR), but the race results say I ran 2:07:32 (which would be my slowest time for a street race). Very strange. Oh well. At least I got a Huge neon green shirt from the event. : )

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) this year. The popular Seattle conference sold out quickly, yet again. The coming of PAX 2010 reminded me of our team visit to PAX 2009 – and some of the fun photos we had taken at the Expo! : )

Also in August, I went on a wine tasting weekend trip to Walla Walla, Washington, for a girlfriend’s birthday. We stayed in a beautiful, large house just outside of the city and hired an SUV limo driver to be our designated driver.

I had visited Walla Walla Wine Country once before, with my family. That was a fun experience, but we learned the hard way that it really is nice to have a chauffeur for such a trip.

With my friends, I visited: Dunham Cellars, Le Chateau, Russel Creek, Walla Walla Vintners, K Vintners, and Three Rivers wineries. They range in size from large establishments to family businesses. It’s nice to see the array of wineries our state has to offer!