Success!

Yesterday was D-day for the project that I'd been working on since the summer. We presented to our EC and I wasn't quite sure at first how it went since the debate was lively and very engaged (and I don't do well with perceived conflict) - at least on the part of my SVP who was very passionate in his objections about the proposed sales strategy. After 75 minutes of debate - which was centred around implementation as opposed to go or no-go - we left the meeting room with a greenlight to go forward with beginning the build for the new product. Success!!

To celebrate the late nights and weekends working, we went out for drinks and dinner - me, the Director I'd been working with so closely for the last few months, my sr. manager, as well as a couple other sr. managers who helped provide guidance around the strategy and production requirements.

Our first stop was at Elephant and Castle for a couple pints and then we headed over to Crush Wine Bar, where I had reserved a table for 6:30. Can I just say how great it is to eat on expense? We each ordered the soup of the day which was a great wild mushroom soup with truffle oil, along with a few other appetizers to share, including the Crush Charcuterie Platter, the Goat Cheese plate and Scallops. Since we ordered what was the first of 2 bottles of the 2002 Rioja Reserva YGAY, Marqués de Murrieta, I ordered the veal, which was soooo yum! And because we were dining on the company's dime, I was all set to order a glass of the 20YO Tawny Port for dessert but ended up trying a glass of the 2003 Banyuls Blanc instead after hearing our server describe it as cocktail-like with hints of pineapple and lavender, among other things.

I didn't expect the evening to end so late, but we didn't leave the restaurant until about 11 last night because there was much discussion at the table about the dysfunction in the organization. It was very interesting as the most junior person at the table to hear the dish on what they thought was wrong and how it might be fixed, with the understanding of course, that what happens outside of work, stays outside of work.

Now that I have this project behind me, I'm feeling much more content about my job. While it's a complete drag to be so busy I have a manager who, now that I've gotten a chance to know him better through this project, is pretty good about providing guidance when I need it. He's also great at providing timely feedback...and rewarding as it is to hear that the work I've done is great, I feel embarassed too...and I don't know why that is. This positive experience certainly gives me more confidence to tackle the much larger project ahead of me - and if I just don't think about the fact that this project is 10x the revenue potential of the one that just wrapped, maybe I'll be OK. :)