So Brandy and I got a call from one of the fine gents that was my former lead developer in Boulder, Colorado. He’s one heck of a guy…like a brother to me.

Anyway, I hadn’t heard from him in awhile, we even came into NYC where he lives and I was calling up every day to try and catch up.  No dice…as you can imagine, my messages got crazier & crazier as they went. Anyway, outta the blue…I get a call from him telling me of his 40 days at Sea.  He had flown to Finland with a crew of people to work on the technology to install SMART Plasmas (300 of them) all over the vessel. So they had just pulled into port here in Fort Lauderdale and had a weeks work let to top of issues with the ship before they begin running revenue passengers.

So we got the phone call that he could day pass us for sure, but have a bag packed standing by because they were about to do the inaugural sailings which would have us overnighting onboard. So at the 11th hour, we get a text telling us we’ve been manifested and need to get to the post as fast as possible. Once we got there, it was an amaizing experience. Period. Everything about this Ship is to be admired.

We had a wonderful time and would go back in a heart beat…and guess what…we did!  That’s right, we were hanging with RCCL management when the idea popped up as we were on the 1st inaugural cruise and being invited to just stay aboard for the 2nd cruise. You gotta love it when everything is comped, its cheaper to go cruise…than stay at home. So cruise we did.

Oasis of the Seas is more cruise ship than you can imagine. But I can tell you, there’s something for everybody on board.

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The beauty of it, once our first inaugural was done, management invited us to stay on for the 2nd inaugural cruise as well. So we ended up with a 5 day/ 4 night cruise aboard the worlds largest cruise ship before the rest of the world gets to pile on and ransack that boat! It was magical. You must try it.

Well, its that time again. We are headed to Los Angeles on Monday for Affiliate Convention II at the Hyatt Regency Century City Plaza. 

I’m quite excited to be Interviewing Danny Sullivan for our opening Keynote and of course watching everyone come in for Day one of one heck of a line-up of educational sessions. Then at 9:30 pm at The Aqua Restaurant & Lounge we’ll be hosting Affiliate Bash with an Exclusive concert by Shock G of Digital Underground. We’ll be doing the Humpty Dance that night for sure. 

Then Day 2 kicks off with another exciting day of sessions with a Keynote being delivered by Tim Ash. He had some an amazing reaction in Denver, we thought we’d bring him back for more.

We have some special surprises in store as well…so keep your eyes peeled on the Affiliate Convention Social Site. 

Hope to see you there!

Ok, so it’s true. We went to Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2009. We had a pleasant surprise of having our party that Brandy and I created, Search Bash, move from the last night of the conference to the first night since Google decided not to do its annual infamous. So we were on the trade show floor in Denver at our very own conference, Affiliate Convention, when we got the call telling us of this wonderful challenge.

Organizing a Search Bash is always challenging and fun, but one where you have no idea how many people may come and in such a short time frame to pull off a unique theme. This is the big task, as we’ve always done crazy themes. See pic below:

Rain at The Palms Hotel & Casino where Search Bash took place.

We took some amazing pics and thought I should share, this was back in November, but I just tripped across them and figured why not post them:

The big screen rolling our awesome video promo loop!

The Entertainment from the air was spectacular!

I can say this, without all the great help within the WebmasterRadio.FM community and of course our dedicated staff and crew and sponsors, these events would not be possible.

Thanks to you all for your contributions to making these events possible.

Kayla Danielle Babin, a daughter I am very proud of turned 16 on Sunday. I wanted to post this then, but I’ve been trying to unplug on the weekends for obvious reasons.

However, this is a momentus occasion. This doesn’t happen more than once in a little girls life, its a once in a lifetime thing. I have an amazing little girl who is blossoming into a beautiful young lady. Kayla, your dad is very proud of you. I may be 1200+ miles from you, but know 1 thing. Above all things, you’re always in your dads heart and I miss you more than you will ever know.

Happy Birthday my wonderful daughter…I love you!

Ever have a day that you just equate with Monday? The day when the week starts all over again, the repetitive tasks and focusing & being “on” is just not what one looks forward to. What can I say, today was one of those days.  Last night the flu bug hit me and I’ve been updating my site & plugins while getting the new WMR themes and modules set. All great, I am just now ready for a vacation…because even though its Thursday, it felt like Monday…but with Friday being on deck…its not hopeful I will complete the tasks I set up to get done quite yet this week.

I suppose that means once I get through the weekend, I’ll be doing as the rest of the world will be…heading back into Monday!   lol Is it me, or did I just make a circle?

So I thought I would show you folks what Denver looked like. I think our inaugural show got off to a great start…what do you think?

It was one kick ass show. Thanks to everyone who helped up pull off an amazing first show. We look forward to L.A. in Dec.

I gotta say, I’ve done some other shows with an affiliate focus like Affiliate Summit, and a few others, but I think the atmosphere in Denver was perfect for this first time event. For us it was an adventure. However, we just dove in head first and when it came time to ride the bull we rode the whole 8 seconds.

The educational sessions were packed, cudos to Tim Ash on an amazing job. To all our speakers, moderators, exhibitors, sponsors, and media partners…it would not have been possible. We thank you all.

We look forward to seeing you for Affiliate Convention in Los Angeles this December.

After not seeing Jerry or Jane for is about 3 weeks, they came back from a long trip thru south america. We enjoyed dinner and heard stories of the trip while of course all making sure that being a proper advocate for Bev was a necessity. So long nite of playing catch up, so tired and off to bed.

My mother passed around 10 years ago, and when I met my wife Brandy…I gained a new mother-in-law.

Now, I gotta say, this was no typical mother-in-law, she was your typical “Jewish Mother” who gave you the evil eye when she knew her daughter wasn’t looking. Beverly Shapiro and I began as family members who squared off 9 times out of 10. She was a fierce, verbal warrior. She held her own and apparently I was not to be left out of the line of previous men whom “Bev” has given a wonderful, warm, welcome. (smirk)

As things go, over time…I’ve truly earned my relationship with my mother-in-law. Instead of mothher-in-law…I call her “Mom” now. She calls me Son. We’ve earned it.

It was not an easy road, but one that we both rode down knowing that in the end…it wwas because of our mutual love of Brandy that we came together and grew a bond.

My mom is sick now…and I want her to do better. We’ve been on a whirlwind ride to ensure she gets proper care as she endures a tough time. For me, and for my wife, its been a rough time as we watch and wait as professional caregivers and gerentologists advise us on life care for Bev.

We hold our chin up, we stand strong and we keep moving forward and we show our love to you Bev!

Well, I have fought the blogosphere for ever…and now I am finally joining the ranks. I have done nothing but indulge this medium due to work, but it seems as if blogging is here to stay and believe it or not…does make sense as a place to do exactly what I am doing now.

So I will use this domain to discuss more of my personal life. Not too intimately of course, but enough for me to share the important things to me in my life, with friends, family and anyone who cares to peek into my world.