I think I might have to pass on the San Francisco trip I mentioned previously. I was looking at the financial state of the world, or the business at least, and decided that perhaps it's not a good idea if I'm going to make any real meaningful business debt progress this year.
IAAPA in November is gonna be a somewhat expensive trip (though I've got an upgrade coming to the club level at Royal Pacific... free beer here I come!). It's just the number of days that will be a bit much. Combine this with the iPhone and buying the Adobe products (coming tomorrow, yay!), and that's a lot of negative progress, I think. All this in a year where I thought I wouldn't have any major capital expenditures. Ha! Not the way I like to have toys!
In prior years I would tend to borrow against what I figured I'd make on the year, which probably wasn't the greatest idea, but it has always opened doors for me. That's why I'm second guessing the conference in San Francisco. I mean, I still have half the business debt that I had last year. I just never do a real budget because ad revenue is so freakin' unpredictable. But how can I do the "right" thing when year after year the "wrong" thing has produced great results?
I need to get into a more logical business!
... or maybe take a business class or two :)
Not all value is tangible. If you feel that going to SF will help you in any way - go for it. Even if it is just for the spiritual lift.
Did you think of ROI when you traveled to Orlando to see BMG? Probably not, so why sweat it when considering a trip to SF? Not every trip has to be a write off.
Make it a vacation where you get to meet some people in the industry, as opposed to an industry event where you squeeze in some J-Pizzie time.