Encore!

And so the week has ended. My quick two days in the Japan office have come to a close. It's time for a quick weekend adventure, then off to Korea on Sunday. Save a productive (but still oh so behind in email!) day in the office, I introduced Stephen Dolan to Hayashi, the charcoal-baked restaurant I enjoyed my last time in Japan. Mr. & Mrs. Hayashi enjoyed seeing my blog entry from October!

Better put, Mrs. Hayashi giggled, then quickly shuffled away in her kimono.

DRIVEpm, tempura, and other Japanese staples

I spent the day in meetings today in Tokyo and am now near passing out in my hotel room I'm so tired (major lack of sleep and significant jet lag this go. Boo!). To get to my current state, however, I must tell of today's highlighted events and adventures...

Microsoft Advertising Japan hosted their bi-annual Partner Conference today whereby they introduced agencies here in Tokyo to new products and services, and an awards ceremony for the top agencies supporting the Microsoft business. The launch of DRIVEpm in Japan was a major focus of the 2-hour presentation as well as a key take-away for agencies to be able to pitch targeting capabilities to their client rosters. What was yet again SO cool was seeing DRIVE Performance Media and its business model being presented in front of 200+ Japanese businessmen & women... and while a given... in Japanese! That which I got to be a part of more than five years ago now is global. Out little start-up that could. And did. It was VERY powerful and I'm reminded of the blood, sweat and tears -- but none of the pain -- spilled, dripped and shed in the process.

And tonight, several of us enjoyed dinner at a delicious tempura restarant in the heart of Akasaka. As always, I'm enjoying banter with an Entertaining Australian (Stephen Dolan, NE corner above) and simply being here in Japan. This really is an incredible place altogether. I'm glad to be back!

p.s. oh, and you should have seen the Partner Conference welcome for agencies... upon arrival, each guest was greeted by an army of Microsoft Sales professionals. We're talking 30 men & women bowing in unison to each entering guest. Awesome!

Crouch, Idaho

Greetings from Tokyo! I write not to talk about my Asian adventures to date (arrived tonight, enjoyed dinner with senior leaders from Greater Asia region, but specifically an Aussie from Sydney and a Brit from Hong Kong), but to recap you on the past week in my crazy travels! This time, Avid Reader, the recap comes to you via Crouch, Idaho!

I enjoyed a couple of days off and visited my parents and extended family in Boise before heading to my parents' beautiful cabin in Idaho's Garden Valley. The Weavers also made their way to Crouch and we enjoyed three peaceful (and Captain & barnyard-filled) nights in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, but that's what I thought. Turns out, the middle of nowhere also includes the Longhorn restaurant and the Dirty Shame Saloon! Both of which we enjoyed, along with walks through the "neighborhood" as well as tons of time with Tucker, who may be the best dog in the whole world.

Lots of comptetive cards, movies, and a whole lot of nothing later, and I'm now sitting in my hotel room in Tokyo getting ready for 10 days of in-market adventures. It's the first time I've been back since before Thanksgiving... and I've actually missed this place!

K1 Speedway!

My new GM hosted our first Team Offsite today whereby we spent most of the morning mapping through our new organization, spelling out accountabilities, and preparing to tackle the rest of the fiscal year. After lunch, however, we were able to do what every team needs: Morale Event!

We hit K1 Speedway in Redmond and tried to outgun one another. I wasn't as successful as I would have liked; let's just say I needed to have changed my strategy to optimize for control vs. fast hairpin turns. It was a kick in the pants altogether, however, and it was just what a forming group needed: something to talk about.

And my team will be talking about it for a long time as my direct teammates all appeared on the winner's podium (Jen, Grand Champion; our Boss Brian, 2nd Overall; and Saskia, 2nd in the Consolation Bracket)!

Re-Org.

As the world well knows, Avid Reader, Microsoft laid off ~1,400 employees within the past two weeks, with 3,600 more pink slips to come. I won't say my future is secure (whose is, really?), but I can say that I was re-org'd TWICE in the past two weeks. Good times!

Short story: the breadth and depth of what I do are both significantly increasing. If you consider my DRIVE launches as fulfilling two components within the many of Microsoft's online advertising business, my responsibilities expanded to four areas of the business this week (Network Reserved, Auctions, Search, Content Ads). And if you consider that I was working in Japan and Korea (and some India) before, my countries of responsibility also expanded to all of Greater Asia Pacific (Australia, Japan, Korea, India, China, Russia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, & Hong Kong).

Oh, and I'm likely the Microsoft Media Network Product Manager for France, too. Can you say, "Todd Moore Takes Paree?"! WOO HOO!

Two Years

Today is the two-year anniversary of my return to Seattle after living in New York City. While I captured the year in my blog, I didn't need it to remind me of how incredible my time there was.

My UES apartment and its photo wall. My daily commute to the subway past ROMA Pizza. Brunches at New Amity with adventures in Central Park or The Met after. Writing contests at Ship of Fools. NYC Take-out containers. Visits from friends. The Brooklyn Brewery and MyMoon. Ari Gold.

Bottomline, I've been a lucky man relative to where I've had a chance to visit and to live. Who would've thunk it?

Looking Back to Look Ahead

Happy New Year, Avid Reader!

Yes, it's already mid-January and I realize I haven't posted for you for nearly a month. And interestingly, I haven't had out-of-town adventures for nearly two months. That's crazy talk given my 2008 travels altogether!

Now that we are in the midst of a near year with infinite possibilities, I thought I'd share a couple of fun events & adventures of late. Interestingly, they are both a part of my past, but provide the opportunity for me to look forward to life-long friendships.

DRIVEpm CRM Reunion
We were finally able to get the gang together again for Happy Hour this week. The CRM team circa 2005 was a team of gents with Angy at the helm. Quick catch ups, updates, juice, and shared stories over cocktails allowed us to bridge the gap of time and travels and will allow us to start from a new place when we get together again and again moving forward!

Matty Allen in SeaTown
One of my closest BSchool friends was in town from Austin this week. In addition to an MBA Reunion of sorts at our favorite watering hole, Matt, Charles Newton, Tim Grieb, Michael Pidduck and I were able to get some small group time and get caught up on Matty's crazy heart story and check out his new hardware. Spooky and awesome altogether. Great to see you, Matt.

Of course, I look forward to continuing to have you along on my adventures, here or abroad. Interestingly, I realized this week that I was in Ireland a year ago and that I had an awesome 2008 relative to seeing the world (Dublin! London! Tokyo! Sydney! Seoul! Mumbai! Hong Kong!). As always, I'm happy to share the things I get to do and see with you, Avid Reader, as it makes them much more real to me. That said, here's to 2009... and to looking forward. Happy New Year!