Between the Moon and the Violent Thunder Storms

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 – You got unceremoniously grounded today at the airport in Cincinnati. Only for a couple of hours, though. The good news is that you had a very successful meeting yesterday with the development team at Florida State University in Tallahassee. In addition to a direct mail fundraising campaign, F.S.U. asked the Yellowfin crew to help them promote alumni participation during the football season this fall. They will be entertaining their constituency in and around the stadium at each home game (along the lines of, say, a series of exclusive, upscale tailgating parties), and they’d like Yellowfin to develop an overarching marketing strategy and act on it accordingly. You’re already loving this assignment! After all, it means you and your colleagues will be able to extend your creative reach and make a deep, lasting impression on a very wide target audience at every point of contact. You are grateful for the opportunity. And champing at the bit — at 30,000 feet. (Yes, you still haven’t come back down to earth.) It appears as though we will be encountering an area of significant turbulence. Please fasten your seat belts. The loud, foreboding announcement you are now listening to is the captain just doing his job, preparing you and your fellow passengers for the roller coaster of a ride ahead. It’s 5:37 PM and you’re caught between the moon and the violent thunder storms and somewhere just east of Pittsburgh. This is your connecting flight, which was already late getting out of the gate. This is a travel day not going quite as planned. But before you know it, the storm system is behind you (thank God). And you find yourself touching down at Logan Airport. You are now free to move about your own soil. You are now free to go home.

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