We had a wonderful trip. We arrived late Thursday night (Nicole earlier). There was a cocktail reception in the lobby bar waiting for us. The funny part was the cocktail reception began at 7:00 p.m. and was "still going" when I arrived at 11:30 p.m. My wife obviously started drinking wine at 7:00 and she was still going when I got there. A lot of my coworkers were in "rare form" at this late hour. It was hilarious being the sober one listening to them all tell me how cool this place was and how much fun they had getting to Hilton Head. Below are a few stories:
We have a company policy that everyone cannot be on the same flight, we have the same policy when it comes to team members riding in the same cars. When our group (Northstar guys which there are 6 of) travels to seminars by car, we can never have more than 4 in the car, so 2 always have to stay behind. Barb (executive assistant) had everyone flying into Hilton Head on different flights, probably 6-8 different flights. The only group that made it without a hitch was my flight. We took off on time, we arrived in Atlanta on time, and we arrived in Savannah on time. There were two great stories about other coworkers flights.
Let's start with Morgan Wells, he is our newest trader, fresh out of Gustavus. It was his first time on an airplane and he arrived at his gate plenty early (smart so far). We didn't realize his gate was changed to another number and his flight left without him. He caught another flight to New York, then had to wait there until a connection brought him to Savannah. No big deal, but kind of funny.
The next one takes the cake. 10 of our traders flew through Cincinnatti. They had an electrical problem with their plane in Mpls, so they missed their connection in Cincinnatti. When the arrived in Ohio, they were told that there were no more flights that day and they would have to catch an afternoon flight on Friday, thus missing all of Thurs night's activities and the Friday morning meetings and company golf tournament (unacceptable). So, they rented some SUV's and began a 12 hour drive from Cincinnatti to Hilton Head. They stopped in Kentucky and in Tennessee (wonder what for) and arrived at Hilton Head at 3:30 a.m. None of them missed the 7:30 a..m meeting on Friday (well done boys).
Friday was a big day. We started with breakfast in the morning followed by 3 hours of meetings. After that the company golf tournament was held at The Ocean Course, one of the 3 courses at the Sea Pines Resort where we were staying. I wrote last week that I would have to play well for my team to have a chance, as luck would have it, I did play well and my team won. I made a birdie putt on the last hole from about 25 feet (we were on the fringe) for the win. It was pretty cool. Each team member won a $75 gift certificate because of that putt. I was quite happy!
We had dinner by the sea on Friday night, a beautiful setting.
Saturday, more meetings in the morning (we presented at the meeting giving our outlook on the markets). After that we were golfing at Harbourtown, home of the Verizon Heritage Classic in 2 weeks. The golfers in our company always refer to a big PGA course or a highly rated course as "The Big Show". Everyone gets all jazzed up to play these courses, we talk at length about the course weeks and weeks ahead of time, and I'm sure we'll talk about it for weeks and weeks after, it's all part of the golfing ritual. No different than fishing or hunting George! We played Harbourtown (our 4-some was Scott Strand, Brandon Marshall, Nicole and I). We had a forecaddie (he doesn't carry bags, we rode carts, but he runs ahead before you tee off so you know where your ball went, he gives you the exact yardage to the pin from your ball, he rakes bunkers, and he reads putts). It is about like having a guide for a hunting trip (see George, golfing and hunting are very similar). We paid him $45/person so he makes about $180, not a bad day really. Anyway, our caddie was Bob and he was great. The weather was cooler on Saturday so you'll see we are wearing sweaters, but the course was everything I hoped it would be. It was tough, fair, beautiful and unforgettable. I wish I could have played better, I get too excited to play these big courses and usually don't play well. Since November, Nicole and I have played 3 of the top 100 courses in the US, this one being ranked the highest at number 14. I played poorly at 2 out of the 3, but I really try not to let that ruin my experience. Nicole played very well. She impressed all the guys as usual. On Friday, she played in the company scramble, but not on my team. Her team was the only team to make an eagle on the day. She hit the drive, my coworker Charlie hit the approach shot on the green and Nicole sank the putt for the eagle (it was a par 5). She hit last for the team all day (usually the spot in a scramble where the best player is). All I heard that night was how good your wife is, how many times has she beat you, etc. In fact, on Saturday, one of the guys who played with her on Friday bet me $20 that she would beat me at Harbourtown. I told him he was throwing his money away that she had only beat me in 18 holes once in her life (last year at Giants Ridge), but he said he didn't care and he thought she would beat me. I shot a 90, she shot a 99, $20 for the Ward's. We had a great time at Harbourtown. Saturday night we had a nice dinner and a retirement party for one of our traders (Roger Gilbertson). Roger has been trading for 37 years, long before Agmotion was founded. It was an emotional ceremony, and one I hope to participate in someday. I have been with Northstar Commodity for 10 years now, which almost makes me a veteran. Out of all the traders that work for Agmotion only 8 have been there longer than me. That includes the founders of Agmotion, Rolf and Tim. I have no plans of working anywhere else, fingers crossed they'll keep me around for another 20 years. If I work until I'm 62 (retirement age), I will have worked there 40 years (that is sick).
We have a company policy that everyone cannot be on the same flight, we have the same policy when it comes to team members riding in the same cars. When our group (Northstar guys which there are 6 of) travels to seminars by car, we can never have more than 4 in the car, so 2 always have to stay behind. Barb (executive assistant) had everyone flying into Hilton Head on different flights, probably 6-8 different flights. The only group that made it without a hitch was my flight. We took off on time, we arrived in Atlanta on time, and we arrived in Savannah on time. There were two great stories about other coworkers flights.
Let's start with Morgan Wells, he is our newest trader, fresh out of Gustavus. It was his first time on an airplane and he arrived at his gate plenty early (smart so far). We didn't realize his gate was changed to another number and his flight left without him. He caught another flight to New York, then had to wait there until a connection brought him to Savannah. No big deal, but kind of funny.
The next one takes the cake. 10 of our traders flew through Cincinnatti. They had an electrical problem with their plane in Mpls, so they missed their connection in Cincinnatti. When the arrived in Ohio, they were told that there were no more flights that day and they would have to catch an afternoon flight on Friday, thus missing all of Thurs night's activities and the Friday morning meetings and company golf tournament (unacceptable). So, they rented some SUV's and began a 12 hour drive from Cincinnatti to Hilton Head. They stopped in Kentucky and in Tennessee (wonder what for) and arrived at Hilton Head at 3:30 a.m. None of them missed the 7:30 a..m meeting on Friday (well done boys).
Friday was a big day. We started with breakfast in the morning followed by 3 hours of meetings. After that the company golf tournament was held at The Ocean Course, one of the 3 courses at the Sea Pines Resort where we were staying. I wrote last week that I would have to play well for my team to have a chance, as luck would have it, I did play well and my team won. I made a birdie putt on the last hole from about 25 feet (we were on the fringe) for the win. It was pretty cool. Each team member won a $75 gift certificate because of that putt. I was quite happy!
We had dinner by the sea on Friday night, a beautiful setting.
Saturday, more meetings in the morning (we presented at the meeting giving our outlook on the markets). After that we were golfing at Harbourtown, home of the Verizon Heritage Classic in 2 weeks. The golfers in our company always refer to a big PGA course or a highly rated course as "The Big Show". Everyone gets all jazzed up to play these courses, we talk at length about the course weeks and weeks ahead of time, and I'm sure we'll talk about it for weeks and weeks after, it's all part of the golfing ritual. No different than fishing or hunting George! We played Harbourtown (our 4-some was Scott Strand, Brandon Marshall, Nicole and I). We had a forecaddie (he doesn't carry bags, we rode carts, but he runs ahead before you tee off so you know where your ball went, he gives you the exact yardage to the pin from your ball, he rakes bunkers, and he reads putts). It is about like having a guide for a hunting trip (see George, golfing and hunting are very similar). We paid him $45/person so he makes about $180, not a bad day really. Anyway, our caddie was Bob and he was great. The weather was cooler on Saturday so you'll see we are wearing sweaters, but the course was everything I hoped it would be. It was tough, fair, beautiful and unforgettable. I wish I could have played better, I get too excited to play these big courses and usually don't play well. Since November, Nicole and I have played 3 of the top 100 courses in the US, this one being ranked the highest at number 14. I played poorly at 2 out of the 3, but I really try not to let that ruin my experience. Nicole played very well. She impressed all the guys as usual. On Friday, she played in the company scramble, but not on my team. Her team was the only team to make an eagle on the day. She hit the drive, my coworker Charlie hit the approach shot on the green and Nicole sank the putt for the eagle (it was a par 5). She hit last for the team all day (usually the spot in a scramble where the best player is). All I heard that night was how good your wife is, how many times has she beat you, etc. In fact, on Saturday, one of the guys who played with her on Friday bet me $20 that she would beat me at Harbourtown. I told him he was throwing his money away that she had only beat me in 18 holes once in her life (last year at Giants Ridge), but he said he didn't care and he thought she would beat me. I shot a 90, she shot a 99, $20 for the Ward's. We had a great time at Harbourtown. Saturday night we had a nice dinner and a retirement party for one of our traders (Roger Gilbertson). Roger has been trading for 37 years, long before Agmotion was founded. It was an emotional ceremony, and one I hope to participate in someday. I have been with Northstar Commodity for 10 years now, which almost makes me a veteran. Out of all the traders that work for Agmotion only 8 have been there longer than me. That includes the founders of Agmotion, Rolf and Tim. I have no plans of working anywhere else, fingers crossed they'll keep me around for another 20 years. If I work until I'm 62 (retirement age), I will have worked there 40 years (that is sick).
On Sunday, we got up early and walked around the island, having breakfast and coffee at one of the bakeries, looking at the water, just a relaxing stroll. Our flight left at noon and we arrived home just after 6:00 p.m. Great trip.
One of the many alligators at Harbourtown
One of the coolest pictures of the weekend
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