Today I was out of the office and home running around West Virginia doing site inspections for the annual Veteran Speakers Retreat in the end of August. It was a brisk day, but a nice day for a drive through the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia eastern panhandle. WOW! I didn't think it had been that long since I've travelled some of the routes and roads I was on today - but I couldn't believe the development that has gone on in rural WV. My first stop was at The Woods Resort in Hedgesville and there were a bunch of new traffic lights, shopping centers and strip malls that I never saw before and new housing communities and townhouse developments everywhere. The Washington DC area is pushing its way into WV. I thought it was bad around my area in Winchester. Surprise! Surprise!
We (I met my co-coordinator of the retreat) John Daly and his soon to be bride, Dana, at the Woods. The Conference Coordinator, Kathy and the rest of the Woods staff were terrific to us, showed us around and we had a very good feeling about the place - pretty much decided this is it for this year. We enjoyed lunch overlooking Walden Pond outside the Main building at the resort and then headed to Harpers Ferry to the Hilltop Hotel - an historic structure with grand views of the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. But, unfortunately, the 1888 structure just wouldn't do for our veteran speakers. So, that was a disapointment. John and Dana headed back to Chevy Chase, MD, from whence they had come and I made a quick stop at the newly renovated Cliffside Inn - now known as the Quality Inn Conference Center. They've done a nice job of renovating the property, the sleeping rooms are very nice and the restaurant is very nice, too. However, the ballroom, the only area large enough for our group is barely adequate due to the pillars located throughout the facility and creating poor sight lines. In a pinch, we could make it work - but the hands down winner is The Woods Resort.
This was a pretty simple day generally speaking. Nice driving, nice scenery, three stops, one easy and quick decision and now I can move on with the beginning phases of promoting the retreat for this year. John and I decided to utilize the VSR Web site this year as a way to provide a lot of the information we would have tried to pack into a mailing. This will simplify the promotion and delegate some of the work to others on the planning committee. I readily agreed to this since it will make my involvement simpler and less time consuming.
That was pretty much the day. I didn't do much when I got back other then a phone call and discussion about working on my own book with Jane, my executive administrator, who bought an interesting and very informative e-book she was sharing with me that should make writing my book much simpler and faster.
That's it for today. Now to call Carolyn and see how her day has been and then to start reading the book BLOG by Hewitt and learn more about this whole blogging concept.
The Virginia Sound Man
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