Opportunities arise
I received a call about a week before the 1st annual Cancun International Film Festival from one of our hotel reps saying that they were inviting me to the Cancun Film Festival as a guest of the El Dorado Royale Resort in the Riviera Maya. I had no clue about how or what takes place at a film festival but it sounded intriguing. I asked my wife if she wanted to go and I already knew the answer. Too short notice. Oh well, I kind of put it on the backburner until the day before when I received a follow-up email saying that they were holding a suite for me. A suite, VIP parties and I could book a frequent flier ticket. Only deal was I would have to travel alone. Again. In my business, traveling alone is part of the deal. My thoughts were "What am I going to do since I don't know a soul at a film festival?". I had about five minutes to book a frequent flier ticket and go. If you have never done this, it is awesome to book a Caribbean vacation the day before. DONE.
I packed my bags with everything in my closet since I had no idea what to wear to one of these things.
Upon arrival into Cancun on 11/14, I was greeted at the airport by the rep from El Dorado Royale. Seems they couldn't find my name on the list. After a little coaxing, they found me. A private transfer would be coming. Just then a gentlemen approached in a suit that seemed important and actually ended up being just that. John Hopewell, Bureau Chief for Variety Magazine in Spain and Portugal, had arrived. He greeted me as if I must have been a director or actor. This was why I had decided to go on a whim. Meeting cool people is bound to happen if you just do it. We chatted a bit about the festival and he was also to travel by private transfer. Catch here is his transfer arrived first. He had a stretch Lincoln Navigator limo waiting and said we should just ride together. The rep at the airport put John into his transfer and said my transfer was just arriving. He pointed to the other side of the limo and escorted me to a fabulous shiny Funjet Vacation's Ford van, complete with nothing. The coolest guy I had met (John) said no, I could ride with him and away we went. I learned a ton about film festivals from John in our 40 minute ride to the resort. Here I left home without a clue and now I had the expert who has attended over 300 of these events. UNREAL. Life is an all inclusive journey, complete with your own expert!
This was the perfect circumstance. I was the travel guy who had been to this area twice in the preceding month and had actually stayed at the El Dorado Royale multiple times while John was the film guy with years of experience. It was like meeting an instant friend. I handled the travel tips and he handled the film side. Check-in was a little interesting since this is a couples-oriented resort and they checked us in together (separate rooms). It was late and John said he would introduce me to some film makers and cool people the next morning. This was just the beginning of my way to the Red Carpet and some awesome times. All my fears of boredom had subsided. Meeting the film makers was next!
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