Friday, November 21, 2008

Subways, Trains, and Automobiles


I went to New York City earlier this week. Did you know that 2009 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Natural Fibers? Very exciting concept! There is a small group putting together some plans for how to celebrate the "Year", and I was invited to participate. Most other participants are involved in the breeding of animals or production of fibers. I wore my TNNA Board Member hat (and marketing committee hat). It was an interesting conversation. It turns out that cotton has the biggest natural fiber production worldwide, and numerous activities are being organized around cotton. But these folks wanted animal-based fibers (wool, alpaca, silk, etc.) to be the focus, so that's what they are doing. "Keep the Fleece" is the moniker they will use. Watch for loads of ideas coming out this group in the coming months.

Anyway, I drove to Connecticut and stayed with my brother and sister-in-law for a night, then did the Connecticut-to-New York commute into the city on Wednesday. The meeting was in Soho, in the afternoon, so after the subway ride down, I had mini-meetings with a few business partners in the morning. It was a good use of my time in the city. After the UN-IYNF meeting, I did the back-to-CT commute (subway and train), dinner with relatives, spent the night, the drove back home - well actually I drove straight to work - on Thursday morning. What a whirlwind! But it was fun to do something different for a change.