Dave Stelzl's Blog

I can tell I’m back in the US Airport system – I’ve already had someone cut the first class line (and happy to report that the ticket agent sent them to the back of the line), getting through airport security takes twice as long with the disrobing requirements, and I’m boarding USAirways with my own flight entertainment (now that they stripped the plan of every extra to save weight).    The good news; USAirways doesn’t weigh every carry one – Quantas does.   

In the final analysis, this was a fabulous trip – great sites, great people to work with, and all around a great experience.  Now, I’m looking forward to joining my family at the airport – if you can imagine being greeted by 8 family members after being apart for over two weeks, it should be quite a scene.

It’s my last day and I’m headed back to the states.  My site seeing tour was somewhat blocked by clouds, however it was a lot of fun.  Sometimes you just have to shed the suit and let go a little…it was very muddy, which explains the orange outfit.  Of course mud made the experience that much more fun.

Me in my orange suit

Heading to the mountains - you can see the clouds just half-way up

In the mountains

It was hard to take pictures while riding but what an amazing experience….

Actually, it’s the last month of fall here, but it sure feels like winter in the snowy town of Queensland.  I’m on the last day of my two week tour, having conducted several workshops in both Australia and New Zealand.  The people have been great to work with here, and as the economy has affected sales people all across the world, we’ve been able to exchange many ideas on how to leverage a growing threat in cybercrime that truely is international. 

A key point that seems to come up in every workshop dealing with the sale of technology,  most people are too busy keeping up with all the products, features, announcements, etc. to spend the needed time reading and learning about sales and marketing.  I understand this and see how many emails and documents come across the desks of the people I am working with.  My advice…prioritize the sales and maketing expertise above the product knowledge requirements.  You’ll need some of both, but without growing in your understanding of sales and marketing, you’ll never reach your true potential. 

An now for a few shots of the area (before I even go site seeing):

Coming into Queenstown NZ

Across from my Hotel

In town

I’ve made it to Melbourne, but more importantly, I’ve finally made it to my first AFL Football game, Melbourne vs. the Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs take the Field

And here are two shots, one of the Cricket Stadium which holds about 100,000 people, and the skyline from Cricket Stadium.

Cricket Stadium

Melbourne on the way to the game