Planes, Trains, and… U-Hauls?

One of my favorite holiday movies is “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles”—but who thought so many would have to live it? 

The movie I’m referring to is that 1987 John Hughes classic starring Steve Martin and John Candy as a pair of travelers (Martin an advertising exec, Candy a travelling shower curtain ring salesman—and you think you have a hard job) trying to get home for Thanksgiving. There are any number of misadventures along the way—involving the aforementioned means of transportation on the trip from New York to Chicago… via Wichita and St. Louis. 

Well, a couple of weeks back several hundred advisors found themselves reliving that experience as a series of unrelated events emerged to thwart their scheduled travel to the NAPA 401(k) Summit in Tampa. It started early the day before the event with a strike by Alaska Airlines pilots, by mid-morning Southwest Airlines was experiencing ““intermittent performance issues following routine overnight maintenance of some of [its] backend technology,” there was snow in the upper Midwest, and in early afternoon the southeast found itself covered by a massive series of thunderstorms—all of which had an impact—and a ripple impact across the systems of travel—and all at a time when air traffic was arguably even more complicated by a large volume of Spring Break traffic as well. And that’s not even considering the normal issues with mechanical issues that some who missed the other events had to contend with.

As you might imagine, a good part of that Saturday was consumed not only worrying about, but hearing from, and responding to, speakers and staff who were ensnarled in those travel issues. At the same time, I heard from at least a dozen individuals who, on the ground in Tampa, but aware of the travel issues, reached out to me to volunteer their services as a stand-in for speakers who couldn’t get here in time. Meanwhile, there was the “call” to be made with regard to the outdoor activities that were being planned for Sunday (Flo-Rida) and Monday nights.

Sunday morning dawned with a great deal of uncertainty as to what we’d be looking at in terms of attendance and speakers. But what impressed me throughout was just how hard people were working to get to Tampa. And over the three days of the conference people just… kept on coming… 

There were some amazing stories of persistence and perseverance throughout—but the one that made the deepest impression on me was that of Odyssey Financial Group’s Michelle Coble and Adam Bahner. Based in Oklahoma City, OK, they got as far as Atlanta when not one, but two of the flights from there to Tampa were cancelled—and they were told that there were no seats on the flights out to Tampa for two days. There were no rental cars to be had, and the trains—well, they wouldn’t get to Tampa on time. So they rented a U-Haul—and drove that last leg from Atlanta to Tampa! 

When all was said and done, we had an amazing conference. Sure, some couldn’t get there—many despite enormous effort and inconvenience. But it was clear from the opening session all they way through to the close that those who were there were there because they really wanted to be there—and the level of enthusiasm and engagement—and I think the quality of the content and networking—were through the roof[i].

So, my sincere thanks and appreciation to the speakers and sponsors, to those who “stepped up” to fill gaps, and those who volunteered to do so (because even if we didn’t have to call on you, it relieved some planning pressure)—to the steering committee who helped ensure those gaps were filled, to the conference staff for all the extra work (and stress) that accompanied all this uncertainty.

But most especially, my thanks to all who (including those above) made those (extraordinary) efforts to “get there” via planes, trains, automobiles—and even U-Hauls—to be part of what, by any measure, was an extraordinary event! 

p.s.: Mark your calendars now for the NEXT one—April 2-4, 2023 in San Diego!