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February 5, 2010: A Year in the Life of a Tea Merchant
February 5, 2010
The phone rang at about 5:30 on a Friday afternoon in mid-December. Cathy and I were just going over a few last-minute details before we headed home.
"East Wind Tea, may I help you?"
"Hello, this is Ann calling from British Airways' marketing department. Is this Curtis?" she asked.
"Speaking."
"Several months ago you entered a contest sponsored by BA and I'm calling to tell you that you won!"
"You're kidding!" You have to understand that I never win anything. If it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. I have trouble winning at Solitaire. Yet, here she was calling to tell me that I was a winner.
Months earlier, back in September, I had submitted an entry in BA's "Business Opportunities Grant" contest based on their Face-to-Face promotion. The idea was that some business objectives are better met by face-to-face meetings, rather than by any remote communication method. For my part I wanted to spend time with my two key suppliers in London learning more about the tea we sell and broaden my knowledge about tea in general.
The application required three short essays, no more than 500 words each, on the topics of our business goals for 2010, how the opportunity for travel would benefit us, and how face-to-face meetings would help us. You can't win if you don't try I said to myself. The main award was ten free business-class roundtrip tickets to anywhere in the world BA flies. That, plus $1000 towards accommodations at Marriott's Courtyard hotels, drew my attention. But the real attraction for me was the free airfare.
In one of the essays I stated that I would fly to London, where my two tea suppliers are based, and to the Far East to see first-hand how tea is grown and processed. China, Japan, and India were tops on my list. This will be the opportunity of a lifetime and I want to make the most of it.
I'm about to take my first trip next week - to London to see Alex at East Teas and Tim at Postcard Teas. I'll keep you posted on what I see and learn from them.
Cheers,
Curtis
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