American Pie - Oh No, Mr Bill
Trip Start
Apr 01, 1996
1
4
13
Trip End
Aug 26, 2003
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Atlanta,
Georgia,
United States
Tuesday, December 25, 2001
Our dear friend and my right arm for about 20 years, Tracy Beaulieu, sent me a disappointing gift. I opened up the package to find American Pie, a book about a roadtrip from Seattle to New York during which the author wrote about eating pie all along the way.
Well, shoot. She "stole" my idea.
Well, not exactly, but I didn't feel so good about "The Pie Trip" as the name for our trip and our book. I already own www.pietrip.com. Back to the drawing board.
Meanwhile, I put together a business plan for the hot donut business, and we are launching Hotties.
The Pie Trip will be delayed a bit longer. Such is the life of a serial entrepreneur.
Meanwhile, our son, Ryan, has gotten into the travel business accidentally. Alcatraz Media was formed in 1999. The company began as an Internet company providing web hosting, email services, web design and development. The name "Alcatraz Media" was chosen because the founder's home in Sausalito had a view of San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz. The name was memorable, came up high on alphabetical lists, and it was available as a corporate name (always a challenge in the huge state of California). When the company added a toll-free number, the phone began ringing off the hook. Much to our chagrin, the callers weren't interested in Internet services; they wanted tickets to Alcatraz. It seems there were no companies named Alcatraz listed with directory assistance in San Francisco, so when people called for a number, the operators would say the only listing they had was for "Alcatraz Media." Many would then call the toll-free number to reach our Internet business. After many hours telling people that we didn't sell Alcatraz tickets and after many hundreds of dollars in toll-free telephone bills, the company seriously considered changing its name. The other option was to begin selling tickets and making reservations for callers to visit Alcatraz. "Alcatraz" is now the largest tour/activity broker in North America selling over 10,000 tours and activities!
Well, at least we will have some fun things to do once we begin our trip, whatever it's name may be.
Copyright 2003-2008, Round America and William M. Windsor
