Orlando

My Corporate Sponsor’s International Sales Meeting

My international corporate sponsor’s meeting was relocated to a US destination due to the recent earthquake in Japan. Three out of 5 of their facilities were severely impacted by the disaster. They moved their meeting to Orlando, Florida at the beautiful Peabody Hotel (famous for the Peabody ducks). It was an honor to be invited to the event and to finally meet some of the Japanese executives who were behind the decision to sponsor me for my quest for the title of Miss Teen International.

So once again, I packed my wonderful pink suitcase set (a prize from the International System) and jetted off to sunny Florida. It was a much needed break of sorts, having just finished up my sophomore year of college and final exams. 

When we got there, we were invited to a VIP reception where I met many of the top executives (some of which I had met previously in Atlanta). The next day was full of informational meetings about the effect of the earthquake and new products and research and development efforts.

The 2nd night was an incredible teat as my sponsor rented out the entire Universal Studios for a private party. We had special rides set up just for our group of VIP’s and the food was out of this world.

I spent much of the next day, soaking up the sun at the fabulous pool. It was so nice to finally relax and work on my tan.

By 5 pm I had to be dressed and ready in sash in the Mallard Lobby, I had been asked to help lead the duck march on the red carpet with Donald the Duckmaster. There are 3 world famous Peabody Hotels and each of them has a Duckmaster that leads the ducks from duck palace where they sleep (over $100,000 of marble and fountains grace the duck palace) to the fountain in the hotel. They march to the hotel fountain like clockwork every morning at 11 and back to their palace at 5 pm sharp each night. I was given a walking stick to help with the march and it was so much fun. I was the only one besides the Duckmaster and the ducks allowed to ride in the duck elevator to the duck palace. When we arrived, Donald (real name) gave me a souvenir autographed rubber duck from the Peabody.

The next two nights had special awards dinners and presentations including being entertained by comedian Louie Anderson- he is one of the top 100 comedians in the world and was so funny! Before I knew it, it was, unfortunately, time to go home.

Juliana McKee