Dear Friends,

I have just returned from Washington, DC where the annual Apple Specialist Marketing Cooperative conference was being held. As with most events like this, while the presentations were great, it was the networking, private meetings and late night informal conversations that meant the most.

The Apple Specialist community is very open and supportive of each other and we share ideas on operations, marketing and community. The ASMC had scheduled some social events and I was able to catch the performance of the Capitol Steps and laugh a lot.

There is a vendor fair at the ASMC conference and unlike places like Macworld or CES, this is a small and very intimate gathering of decision makers from Apple Specialists and vendors where deals are made, products are introduced and relationships are built.

Kali, Ed and Matt joined me at the event this year and I think all of us made new friends, gained valuable insight and reestablished old relationships. Personal relationships are so important in business—they are everything. We look at the relationships we build with our fellow Apple Specialists and the vendors as an integral part of our “people” commitment in the way we measure our success—people, planet and profit. How you treat others is always reflected in how you get treated yourself.

An old friend of mine works for Apple, Ted Moorman. There is a funny story about Ted and I. About ten years ago there was a meeting where Steve Jobs came to speak to the Apple Specialists and other resellers. There was a long line for checking in to enter the room and as I was picking up my badge, this tall guy says “Don? Of Don and Pat?” I looked up in surprise because not many people know that my wife Grace changed her name from Patricia about 40 years ago.

Now, I have to admit that I did not recognize Ted but he remembered me and reminded me that we went to the University of Illinois together and then the light went off and we began to talk about old times. He even updated me on mutual friends that I had not seen for 40 years. When I got home, Grace, who seems to have a much better memory of old times and friends than I, filled me in on even more details. It is very interesting that we both ended up in the Apple world. Ted’s a Kibbles & Bytes reader so here’s a shout out to you, Ted!