GoDaddy Roadshow, Part Two

After a couple of days at home following my first GoDaddy Roadshow, I packed it all up again and headed out for part two.  Hello, Iowa! I’m not ashamed to admit it.  I was super excited to visit a state I’d never been to before.  But, as I headed to the airport at 3:50am, I realized that I wasn’t really used to weekly travel.  I’m happy to say it was all worth it.

On this trip, I had to make a stop in Dallas on the way to Cedar Rapids.  My hosts coordinated my flight with theirs and I was on a plane with the GoDaddy Roadshow crew I had just been within Arizona.  As I have mentioned previously, GoDaddy employees have always made me feel like part of the team and this time was no different.

We arrived in the smallest airport I’ve ever been in, other than the Hallwood International Airport (this is my friend’s private airstrip for his cropdusters).  We hopped in a Uber and were schooled on what to do if a tornado was coming.  This was a cryptic description as the Uber driver swerved to miss a piece of sheetrock in the road.  And we learned that their gas station pizza is legendary.  There is also a river that no one seems to be fishing in or doing any recreation on running through downtown.  And the Quaker Oats plant makes Cap’n Crunch on Tuesdays. We finally arrived at our hotel. It was the swankiest in downtown Cedar Rapids. The DoubleTree.  One of my hosts said it was like a 90’s Macys.  That was an accurate description.  It was very clean and comfortable and crawling with cheerleaders there for a competition. I loved the 90’s.

Downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Soon, we headed to the Hiawatha GoDaddy location to scope out the facility for the Roadshow the next day.  One of the team members had rented a car.  The group I was traveling with wondered, why do that?  We can just Uber.  It became clear that renting a car was a good idea in Cedar Rapids.  I had some of my most interesting Uber rides ever in the course of this trip.  The first Uber mentioned above was the best one.  The GoDaddy location was very nice.  It seemed smaller than those in Arizona but very similar in design.  This location had a speakeasy for the employees. That was super cool.

After we returned to the hotel, we walked through downtown, ending up at a restaurant called the Map Room.  It’s smelled great and the burgers did not disappoint. I was excited to see rainbow flags throughout the city.  Just because it’s the midwest did not mean it was all Trump country.  This Seattle girl was happy about that.

The next day we went back to Hiawatha and worked the Roadshow.  Our Uber ride included no back seatbelts, the theme song from Rocky.  I accidentally insulted the driver when I said, “supposedly” the best pizza was at the gas station.  Needless to say, we were happy to get to GoDaddy for the day. The local employees were very nice.  Again, many of the guides were doing web design on the side. This is fantastic for all of us that call in for help with hosting, etc.  I had a great time.  Our Uber ride back to the hotel was so smoky my eyes tears up and couldn’t talk without coughing.  Those of us that rode in that ashtray all had to shower before heading to dinner.

We headed to a fantastic dinner at Cobble Hill.  WOW.  What a treat.  It was so fun to hang out with everyone I had been working with and those that I had met that day.  One funny experience was that it rained outside and all the Arizona peeps ran out to experience it.  I passed, since living in Seattle makes rain the norm for me.  I had oysters, steak, some side dish that I’m not exactly sure of its origins, and amazing desserts.  I had a blast.  I kept saying I had to head back to the room by 10:30, but I made it back just after midnight.  It was worth the lack of sleep the next day.  We had so much fun walking through downtown Cedar Rapids and experiencing arcades and even a bar in a parking garage.  Yep, a bar in a parking garage.

Inside the parking garage bar.

After my experience on the GoDaddy Roadshow, I can honestly say that this company has wonderful people working for them.  People that are so kind that they take in a “customer” as part of the family. I’ve got one more trip to GoDaddy in August and I’m so excited to see all the friends I made when I get there.  And a big shout out to all those business travelers in the world. It’s not easy to be on the road all the time.

RESOURCES:  Hubspot – On the Road: 7 Tips for Surviving Business Travel