How To Do The Holidays In DownTown Los Angeles!
Los Angeles California lights up at the holidays. Of course I booked my trip through CloudPerks, our amazing travel application available on the Salesforce Appexchange. I headed down for TrailheadLive LA, Salesforce’s largest regional platform event in the SouthWest. Holiday flare abounded across La La Land. I’ll share a bit about my trip.
The Flight
We all have our favorite airlines, or one that we are locked into for our bonus points. For me, I’m happy to say that Alaska is my top choice for taking to the skies, and the one I earn most of my points on. Alaska purchased Virgin America in 2016 to some people’s dismay. I’ve always enjoyed Virgin America, and now get the benefit of their points on my Alaska MVP status as well.
I flew direct from Portland, Oregon, to Los Angeles. It’s an up and down for sure, but just long enough to get some reading done. I cracked open Blockchain: Trust Companies, by Ritchie Etwaru. The book is not a collection of blogs, or mash up of other people’s thoughts. Rather, Etwaru dives into the ethics and outcomes of blockchain technology on society. Much of my thoughts around the future of the Salesforce platform intertwines with a couple technologies; one being blockchain.
As an aside, if you’re watching Salesforce’s activity with Blockchain, follow Phil Komarny, VP of Innovation, Salesforce. Phil has experience as a CIO in higher education, and recently led the University of Texas System’s development of blockchain student identity, Chainscript. He makes technology approachable, and yet, can get in the weeds as deep as you’re willing to go.
The Ride
I grabbed a Lyft Line, where you share a ride with another passenger for a break on price, from LAX to the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. My relationship with Lyft is personal. When I took a few months off from consulting in the Salesforce ecosystem this Summer, I decided to drive Lyft full time to pay the bills, and get a fresh perspective on where I wanted to land next. I think the company is top notch with they way it treats it’s drivers, and its customers.
My ride from the airport was fantastic, full of great conversation with the other passenger and driver. We broached topics from gentrification, real estate, historical Los Angeles, to technology trends. I was able to share about Salesforce’s efforts to promote equality with @SalesforceEQ, and train veterans thru @Vetforce.
Los Angeles
The Stay
I was not prepared for the grandeur of the historic Millennium Biltmore located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. I chose the Biltmore from the list of hotels on CloudPerks, because of its proximity to the conference, a short block and a half walk, and for the 47% off lowest publicly posted rate!
It’s classic art deco design was dressed up for the holidays with colorful globes and green fir boughs. A giant fir, that might make the Claus family jealous, filled the foyer. The building exuded the essence of the golden age of Hollywood. Holiday jazz and big band standards danced through the air as I wandered the halls looking at pictures and artifacts from Oscar dinners and galas. The staff was courteous as one might expect at a 4+ star hotel with its history.
Historic Downtown LA
When I travel to a conference I make it a point to get out and see the place. I love to meet up with folks I know from the area as well. So once I got settled in my room, I headed out for a photo walk. My curiosity led me to the Bunker Hill Steps located at the base of the US Bank Tower. Escalators run up and down the length of the 101 steps for those less inclined to hike the incline. At the summit, I moseyed up Grand Ave toward the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The building’s swooping lines of stainless steel move against the brilliant blue sky like a conductor’s baton mid symphony. It’s absolutely stunning, and I can only imagine what it is like to attend an event there.
I wandered up to the top of Grand Park, which runs three city blocks from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, home of the LA Opera, down to City Hall. The whole park, including City Hall is perfectly framed by the bronze doorway sculpture, ‘Dance Door,’ created by sculptor Robert Graham back in 1978. A sense of wonder that began at the stairs and rose with the Disney Concert Hall, overwhelmed me as I stared through that iconic doorway onto the whole of Los Angles.
Moving down the steps and across the avenue, a glorious fir tree adorned the top end of Grand Park. Guarded by human size toy soldiers, the 45 foot tree gave me a sense of warmth, and hearkened me home to the my roots in the Pacific NorthWest. When many parts of the country are beginning to experience their first frozen nights, and water features are turned off till Spring, the Memorial Fountain was a beautiful reminder that I was in Southern California.
Below flowing water lines of the fountain, crews were working to set up stages and sound equipment for the weekend’s holiday festivities. Nothing said LA more to me than the pink and white light arrangement shaped into a 40 foot tree that adorned the lower level of the park, directly in front of City Hall.
Night Life
One of the greatest things about traveling is that I get the chance to connect in real life with colleagues, and friends, that I’ve made through regular engagement on social media platforms. This is the power of social, when we invest in others over time, and then take those relationships deeper in person.
I suppose some of us recall the days of “pen-pals” where we’d be paired with a person in another state or country for the purpose of developing understanding through writing letters. Social platforms has scaled that opportunity. I’ve been tweeting with my friend Calvin Lee, aka @MayhemStudios, for about 6 years. We met up for the first time ever after he got of work! We ascended to the top of the City Hall East and the main City Hall buildings for shots of the skyline and park.
We walked down to historic Olvera Street where early Spanish settlers made their home as early as 1771. Today Olvera Street celebrates Spanish-American culture with its street market and is currently dressed up for Christmas with a beautiful Nativity centerpiece. Just across the way sits LA’s magnificent Union Station. The white stucco building is bathed in pink light and decorated with massive fir wreaths. It, like many of the locations around the city, has its own take on the holiday tree, situated in the courtyard amongst it’s skinny palm tree cousins. Its worth getting down to the station to see these tremendous tropical trees, as it seems they may be removed soon due to irreversible decay. Inside the station, the deep wood and classic stylings invite you into a golden age of train travel.
We jumped in Calvin’s SUV and arrived a mile down the street at LA’s newest entertainment center. LA Live is blitz of lights, sound, restaurants, hotels, shopping and sports venues. A huge ice skating rink with a fantastic tree are situated in the center of the complex, just across from the Staples Center, home of NBA teams, the Lakers, and the Clippers. Holiday favorites and pop 40 songs stream through the air above the skaters and shoppers. I saw folks enjoying outdoor seating under at Wolfgang Pucks, and couples sipping on hot drinks from Starbucks under twinkling lights. It was a magical scene. Kids were running around taking pictures with parents in front of fun holiday characters. Even the scalpers selling tickets to the Lakers game seemed to have an extra pep in their step and Christmas spirit.
We surveyed our options for dinner and landed on The Yard House, which is an upscale sports bar with a fairly incredible list of draft beers. The dark wood interior was spritzed up with touches of white lights and candles. It felt like New Years Eve to me. I went with the barbecue burger and double chocolate stout. Zero complaints; totally satisfying. Calvin ordered their fried chicken breast with all the fixin’s, and ice tea. Over our meal we delved into talking about the joy we get from helping people get off the ground with their tech companies. I appreciated his thoughts on being authentic with people, regardless of title, or opportunity, and being willing to confront those that are being disingenuous with our broader network of colleagues.
Calvin has been battling cancer this last year, and he shared that it has spurred him to get out and to do the stuff he loves more than ever, rather than causing him to retreat into private. As I mulled over our conversation, thinking through these themes, I noticed a bit of advertising for a rewards card for the restaurant that nailed it. It read, “Give Joy, Get Joy.” And that’s the truth. I see it in the Salesforce Ohana all over the world, and in my extended network.
The next morning I woke to a bright blue SoCal sky and the big day at Trailhead Live LA. The event was held at Westin Bonaventure. While there I took the opportunity to visit with some dear friends in the foyer. Interior elevators race skyward above the sweeping curves of the luxurious bar, with beautiful water features bordering comfortable seating areas. I enjoyed conversation with Meighan Brodkey who was knocking out a Trailhead badge. Nate Pepper was working on his project to create a Lightning powered slide presentation component. Can we say, “Death to PowerPoint! Long live Lightning!” The bar features a decent selection of draft beers, wines, and spirits. I’ve been on a whiskey and bourbon kick as of late and enjoyed sipping a Macallan on the rocks. The space was comfortable and situated one floor above the expo area.
Night Cap
A number of us gathered together for an impromptu meal after the event down at Public School 213. The Public School is a tap room featuring elementary school themed pub foods, and a fantastic beer list. They accommodated a large group of us, and were willing to break up the bill into individual checks. We talked about the LA Salesforce community, as many of its leaders were present. I admire their commitment to gather the Salesforce community in one of the largest metro areas on earth, with all the challenges that presents to logistics, and costs. Even with families, they are willing to give their time to one another, knowing that their commute to most locations in the LA basin will take an hour each way! After our meal, with many hugs, and lots of well wishes, a few of us decided to take a night cap atop the city.
The Los Angeles Intercontinental challenges the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco for tallest building on the West Coast. We entered the lobby and were greeted with a 50+ foot high wall washed in a rainbow of color. As we ascended to the second floor to access the elevators, we passed midway up the wall and discovered that it was overlaid with tiny uniform human figures arranged in a cascading structure, each one appearing to hold the other up. Salesforce has strived to bring real equality to the global workplace, both by empowering diversity initiatives through tech grants, and by bringing gender pay equality to their own workforce. It was a poignant reminder that we are all supporting one another in this ecosystem and that we all have an impact that matters. The atmosphere atop the Intercontinental at the open air bar, Spire 73 was stunning! The night air was just cool enough to invite you to cozy up to the curved fire features. The city glittered below us, and the sky above. I enjoyed a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.
Kevin Steele, CEO of Green Couch Consulting, and I reflected on an amazing year for both of us. We’d spent time talking in London at London’s Calling last February. And there we were, having had countless twists and turns over 2017. Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, VP, Program Executive, ITC, Salesforce, talked at length about customer experience, and Salesforce’s incredible company culture. Natalie is a professor at UCLA and a former analyst at Forrester, who is a global influencer in CRM, customer experience, and social media. But more than that, she’s a friend and an authentic soul. You can hear her speaking in Seattle, December 14th, at the Salesforce Basecamp for Service event. We finished our goodbyes, and toasts with one another, and I headed to the airport.
Be A Travel Star!
I lived out on the outskirts of the LA Basin in a tiny town called Nuevo, near Riverside, for 3 years. And in that time we never visited downtown LA. We’d make our way to Disneyland, or the beach. Sometime we’d go to the waterpark out at Palm Springs. But never did we take in the amazing history, dining, and entertainment of downtown. How often do we fail to see the places we live through eyes of wonder? How often do we travel to destinations all over the country, the world, for business, and stare at the tv or our laptops in our hotel rooms? To often. So let’s be travel stars and see the world with fresh eyes and with open hearts.
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