All these things and more were part of my experience in Johannesburg, South Africa last month. More on my blue hair in a minute.
The purpose of this great trip was to present at the Reignite GP conference – a first annual event put on by Braintree. Braintree is the largest Microsoft Dynamics GP partner in Africa, and just an all-around great group of people. They delivered a conference focused on GP users and their needs, and it was fueled with a passion for a product we all know and love.
The four day event kicked off with a key note presentation focused on dispelling rumors of GP’s mortality and a fresh look at the feature rich product. Microsoft MVP’s gave some great insight into what to expect next and how to utilize the GP community to make the best out of the investment companies had made in Dynamics GP. Many hours of educational content followed – making it one of the most fun and interesting events I have attended in a long time! Rockton was there to focus on how to make GP Work Simpler and Easier and was well received by attendees across the board.
And then I got to play with lion cubs!
Following the conference, I had to take a mini safari, because I hadn’t just spent 20 hours in planes to not see some African wildlife.
From the pictures you’ll see a few of my personal favorites from the tour at Lion Park about 45 minutes outside of Johannesburg. You might also notice my slightly Smurfy hair. In addition to traveling a great distance to present, I managed to, almost immediately on arrival and completely by accident, dye my freshly highlighted blonde locks, a shade of….bright Blueberry.
Once the shock wore off, and the fact that for the life of me I could not get the color out, I decided I would rock said blueberry hair and I gave 3 days of presentations and training with blue hair.
I could write a book on the weird things that happen to me when I travel, so this came as no shock to the majority of my colleagues.
My 2 male children were less than thrilled with my new color palette and I chalked it up to being bitten by a mythical African Land Spider – I was basically now an X-men, which upped the “Mom Cool Factor” significantly.
In concluding my story, I have the following tidbits for you:
- Buy Dynamics GP if you haven’t already – and a Rockton Product, because they are awesome
- Visit South Africa because it is beautiful country, they have cheetahs and lions, and it’s super fun to tell people you’ve been there
- Do not use a blue toning shampoo 48 hours after dying your hair. Unless you want blue hair, in which case, I have a huge bottle of shampoo you may have.
Cheers!
