Have you ever had it happen that you meet your neighbor by coincidence thousands of miles from home? Well that is how I first met Charlie and Lisa Grace. I was speaking at the PIA President's Conference in Palm Springs, California. After my speech, they came up to me and asked, "Did you say you live in Duxbury, Massachusetts?" and I said I did. They said, "We live there, too!" and as it turned out, they were less than two miles from my home. Charlie was the VP of Sales for Electronics for Imaging (EFI) and worked out of his home like I did. We became friends and have gotten together multiple times since.

Nine months after that fateful meeting, I was traveling in the San Francisco and checking emails from my hotel room when I received a press release from EFI boasted about their latest "newsworthy" corporate bodily function. Adding my wiseass comment to it, I forwarded it to Charlie. He emailed back in an hour or so, adding that we ought to get together when he gets back. The rest of the email dialogue went like this:

Me: "Where are you?"

CG: "South of San Francisco"

Me: "No kidding. Me, too"

CG: "I am staying in Foster City"

Me: "NO WAY! I am, too. What a phenomenal coincidence! Which hotel"

CG: "The Marriott"

Me: "CharlieÖwhich room are you in? I am at the same hotel!!!"

It turned out that once again, we had coincidentally met up 3000 miles from home, this time we were one floor apart. I told Charlie it was a sign and EFI had to hire me for a speaking gig.

I will be a keynote at their June Connect conference.

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