Since I last posted, I have been to three conferences in two countries, hosted two events and conducted five hours of public speaking.  During this time, I’ve been in coffee shops and hotel rooms doing the marketing, bookkeeping, client meetings and other tasks required of a small businessman.  I am by no means a small man, but an entrepreneur thus the small business reference.  Here is a recap of my latest adventures:

On May 12th I was a featured speaker at the Trilateral Security Conference in Calgary, AB.  I gave my talk entitled “IP Cybercrime: Knockoffs & The Web”.  While attending I was able to try Alberta beef for the first time and, being from Texas I never thought I’d say this but, it was amazing.  I want more.  The city is beautiful and reminded me much of Fort Worth.  Large working class neighborhoods, evidence of more than a century of architecture and a very quaint upscale downtown club district.

My eight-day Boston trip included the company of a woman many of you know as “Wifey” of Facebook fame.  She and I flew in Tuesday and had dinner at Ristorante Limoncello with fellow Online Guy Nils Montan and his lovely wife Teresa.  Being in Boston’s North End I went straight for the linguini with clams and was far from disappointed.  The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition kicked off on Wednesday May 19th at 9am with a half-day presentation of my IP Cybercrime Boot Camp.  I was pleased with the turnout and thank the IACC for the opportunity to present.  Kudos to IACC President Bob Barcheisi for putting on yet another great conference.  The venue was the Hyatt Regency Boston on Ave de Lafayette which was great with the exception of below-par room services due to a strike which could not be avoided on our end.  The program was rich with topics, the committee meetings were productive and I believe attendance was an all-time high.

Over the weekend, Wifey and I took time to sleep in a bit, have a couple romantic dinners and take the very entertaining Ghosts and Gravestones tour of Boston after dark on Sunday.  Dinners at Bouchee Brasserie on Newbury and Kingfish Hall in Quincy Market were quite enjoyable.

By the beginning if the International Trademark Association Spring Meeting on Sunday my voice was completely shot.  As most of you know, talking is my favorite activity so this was not going stop me.  I vocally limped my way through the next four days while gorging on honey and lemon between meetings and events.  The first event to mention is the well-publicized IP Tweetup hosted by “The Online Guys” myself & Nils Montan.  Our RSVP list from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn totaled more than ninety and I suspect actual turnout was much higher.  This is beyond what would be expected for a pre-dinner happy hour.  Our sponsor Knowem brought three representatives to give a presentation and Q&A throughout.  It was so successful that we have already announced there will be a followup event next year in San Francisco.

Like many INTA attendees, I fill my days with meetings so I do regret to say I have no report on the daily sessions themselves.  Back to the nightlife.  Tuesday night I attended the reception hosted by law firm Duane Morris at the classy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.  I have been to this firm’s events before and can say they know how to choose a nice venue to escape the madness of the legal world.  Speaking of venues one cannot mention this conference without raving about the Finnegan party at the House of Blues.  There were bands playing all night for what I estimate to have been over a thousand in attendance.  I think I even saw a few people swinging on chandeliers.  I was able to bump into dozens of friends and also made some new ones.

By the final day, I met many friends, made several new client relationships, closed a few business deals and became Mayor of my hotel on Foursquare.  Back home for a few days awaiting my next mission.

Now I’m going to finish my coffee.