The King Monkey (aka me, Paul June) is on the road this week to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California with Kim Merrill of Merrill Marketing/Communications, a full-service public relations agency specializing in branding, marketing, and communications consulting.
The Sea Otter Classic is “A Celebration of Cycling” for families, cycling enthusiasts, racers, and everything in-between—from tweens, teens, and twenty-somethings to Gen-Xers, Boomers, and the Greatest Generation. We at Barrel O’Monkeyz are big cycling fans, based both on personal interest and professional interest, with cycling-related clients that include Dahon, Jelly Belly Cycling Team, Amgen Tour of California, Primevelo, San Diego Sports Collective, and Sage Titanium.
Simply put, if you share a passion for bicycles and the cycling community, the Sea Otter festival is for you:
- Road bikers
- Mountain bikers
- Commuter bikers
- Recreational cyclists
- Amateur racers
- Professional racers
The festival runs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Thursday, April 20, through Sunday, April 23. That’s four days of cycling fun in the sun. Activities include . . .
- Mountain Bike Races
- Road Bike Races
- Cyclocross Races
- Expo Sales, Displays, and Demos
- Sea Otter Carnival & Kid’s Activities
- And a whole lot more!
Co-founded by Frank Yohannan and Lou Rudolph as the “Laguna Seca Challenge” in April 1991, today the event hosts over 10,000 athletes and 71,000 fans and is regarded as the world’s premier cycling festival.
For more information, visit their website at Sea Otter Classic.
In the meantime, enjoy this Classic blog below from nearly five years ago about keeping the professional and home fires burning while you’re on the road. Enjoy . . . and I hope to see you at the festival!
Life on the Road: How this Entrepreneur Manages Business from the Road
(Originally posted Aug 15, 2012)
I actually find myself breathing heavy as I begin to write this blog. Could it be stress and anticipation as I slip into “trip preparation mode” and my mind starts going a million miles an hour trying to think of all the possibilities, all the eventualities, all of the contingencies I need in place for when I am away, or just anticipation for hitting the highway and the mind-clearing solitude it provides?
As a sole proprietor who has to wear many hats, life on the road can be quite challenging. Think about it. Anytime I depart on a trip, whether it’s a business trip, vacation, or combination of the two, I need to be mindful of all the spinning “plates” in my life that must continue to spin whether I’m at home, away, or somewhere in-between. Without preparation on my part, mass chaos would surely ensue upon departure and most certainly arise upon my return.
What are these plates you may ask? On the business side, they include business development, client management, client projects, marketing, and responsibilities to staff. On the personal front, they include exercise, paying bills, maintaining friendships, personal appointments, and much, much more. (Update: with my wife, Sara, and our two children now front and center in my life, my list of personal “plates” has grown exponentially in a good way in the nearly five years since I wrote this blog!).
All things considered, it’s almost enough to make me rethink going on the road at times, especially those times when it’s for pleasure versus business. After all, if I have to wear myself down preparing to leave, and then worry while I’m gone that something might go untended, then what’s the point?
Luckily, with today’s technology, much of the pre-trip preparation headache and subsequent “jitters” from afar can be alleviated.
Typically, I hit the road not with my PC laptop, but with my iPad and iPhone. My iPad is lightweight and allows me to be quite mobile and still productive, while my iPhone is the perfect tool for emails, texting, and voice. It’s almost as though I haven’t gone anywhere . . . almost.
Now all I need to worry about while I am on the road is a strong cell signal, free WIFI, and whether I brought my charger!
As for getting things done, I usually define some pre-trip objectives to keep me pointed and moving in the right direction.
- To help me stay focused, I develop a mini plan for my trip, long before I ever hit the road. I try to keep it simple, coming up with at least three measurable objectives (personal and/or business) that will determine the success of my outing.
- Turning to my calendar, I then allocate time for specific activities that will help me reach these objectives, such as daily email check-in, client follow up calls, etc. By allocating the time, I can plan my trip-related activities around them (or vice versa) so that one activity does not intrude on another.
- I always keep notes as I travel, using the “notes” App on my iPhone to highlight leads and activities to follow-up on, people I meet, places I go, and all of my great epiphanies from the road. I find this makes my transition from the road back home and back to work much smoother.
- Last, and perhaps most importantly, I try not to sweat the little things! Rarely do things go as anticipated. As your road trip gets into full swing, you may soon realize your “To do” list was too big, or you may encounter unplanned opportunities that force you to rethink your objectives . . . and that’s OK. Life on the road requires flexibility.
Upon return, I make a point of taking time to decompress for about 12-24 hours, reviewing my notes, sorting through contacts, business cards, and marketing materials collected, and leafing through my photos of the trip. Doing so helps me get organized so I can attack things with a fresh outlook and renewed vigor. I find that when I try to hit the ground with my feet running as soon as I return, whatever “attitude adjustment” benefits and bounce in my step I might have gleaned from my time away, quickly disappear.
What’s life on the road like for you? What plates do you have to spin when you go away on vacation or take a business trip?
Share your experiences here.
Paul June is King Monkey of BARREL O’MONKEYZ, a San Diego-based strategic marketing agency specializing in Sports and Active Lifestyle markets. We serve as a seasoned, outsourced marketing team for companies looking to ramp up sales and launch new products. Our barrel is full of talent and creative arms ready to prove we don’t just monkey around!
