Redwood City, CA - EA Holiday Showcase

Dear Friends:

This trip is one of the shortest that I've taken in quite a while.  I visited Redwood City, California - home of the headquarters for Electronic Arts.  This is one of the biggest video game publishers in the world.  I was there to attend an event called the EA Mobile Holiday Showcase.  It was a chance to meet with the development teams of all the major mobile games that EA will put out this holiday season.

I was planning to fly to California the night before the event, attend meetings all day, and then return to Austin that evening. Due to some flight complications, I ended up having to take the first flight out in the morning.  I still managed meetings all day...but then returned to Austin after only spending 7 hours in California.  Crazy ; )

The meetings, however, were totally worth the effort.  I had the opportunity to engage with the teams that are developing the mobile versions of Madden Football, NBA Live, FIFA (soccer/football), Need For Speed (racing), and others.  If none of this makes sense to you...that's OK.  These are game franchises that generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.  A big deal ; )  While we were talking with the Madden team, I had them take a picture of me in front of the game:

First, I'm a big fan of the New England Patriots.  Second, I love to watch #87 play - Rob Gronkowski.  All of my friends in Boston will appreciate this.

In the briefing, they had large rooms set-up to showcase the games on a huge video monitor, with comfortable furniture to relax in.  It's quite clear that they do this on a regular basis ; )  One piece of furniture was truly unique:

For football fans, tt was surprisingly comfortable ; )

The rest of the day was spent in some great conversations about the marketing and technology involved in these games.  I'm working to help optimize some of these games for mobile phones and tablets - especially the ones that contain my company's technology.

At the end of the day, they offered me some games...based on my enthusiasm for video games.  I came home with a bunch of terrific games...literally worth a couple of hundred dollars.  Now, I just need to find the time to play them!

Before heading to the airport, I stopped at the local Toys 'R Us and picked up another birthday present for my youngest grandson.  I dropped off the toy at his house, where he would arrive later that day.

I arrived at the Austin Airport rather late...so late, that there just weren't too many people around.  It's a little eerie when the terminals of an airport are this quiet:

It was a super short trip, but a great one.  These are the kind that energize me and reminds me of how much fun we have working with game developers and creative folk that entertain millions of people around the globe.

Thanks for reading!!