Day 1 at NCIS 2023
As the Crop Insurance Industry Annual Convention has got closer, the anticipation has grown for PlanetWatchers. We are platinum sponsors again this year and will be sponsoring the lanyards while also providing notebooks and pens to all delegates. On Tuesday afternoon, we are hosting 6 holes of free minigolf for all attendees and a chance to win an Apple Watch Ultra if you top the leaderboard.
With so much on the packing began early with the essentials going into the suitcase first – our team polo shirts! I was also responsible for getting the free pens and laptop stickers to the convention so an extralarge suitcase was required. The journey itself was going to be a long one, from The Cotswolds in chilly England to Bonita Springs, Florida via coach and plane, with the promise of a pickup at the Fort Myers airport by PlanetWatchers Sales Executive, Alex Coville.
It was a typically cold and frosty morning when I set out to catch the coach to Heathrow airport full of optimism for the warmer climate of Bonita Springs. As expected, there were plenty of opportunities at the airport to purchase some really special prizes for the minigolf winners. However, the ultimate prize of an Apple Watch Ultra was already at my destination, waiting for collection at the Apple Store on Fashion Dr.
The switch of flight at Atlanta was also a chance to meet up with the PlanetWatchers Head of Customer Success, Rebecca Waiting as we boarded the same flight through to Fort Myers. Landing in Florida was very exciting and the warmer temperature was immediately apparent. It was also a relief to finally check in at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point and be able to hit the hay, especially considering my body clock thought it was almost 3 am!
I can’t wait to get started tomorrow with prepping our gift boxes to give some of the attendees a welcome lift on Sunday and make sure our free notebooks and pens are within easy reach for all delegates. It will also be great to meet up with the rest of the PlanetWatchers team attending the convention and get a team photo in our branded polo shirts.
Day 2 at NCIS 2023
The second day started on the front foot, with a tasty bowl of grits and a glass of orange juice. It was then down to the Osprey meeting room which will act as the PlanetWatchers base of operations for the length of the conference. It was great to meet with Anna Walters from NCIS and get my lanyard ahead of the rush. We had a quick look around the conference hall before I got started with locating all of our shipped items.
Step one was to get the laptop stickers along with the scorecards for the PlanetWatchers minigolf tournament on Tuesday afternoon and put them in the notebooks in the conference hall. With a bit of teamwork, this was achieved fairly quickly and then it was on to preparing the polo shirts that all the PlanetWatchers team would be wearing during the conference. Before long they were ironed and folded and ready to go.
The tablecloth, roller banners and notice board that we will be displaying during our minigolf tournament were all present and looking good. The morning preparations finished up with the VIP gift baskets getting collected by the Hyatt Regency team to be delivered to guest rooms.
A tasty team lunch, was the perfect reward for all the morning efforts. The afternoon went by quickly with all the anticipation for the Super Bowl in the evening and it was great to enjoy the game in such a lively atmosphere.
Thoughts have now turned to the first day of the conference starting tomorrow which is yet another thing to look forward to.