Jason Levine – Healing People Daily with the Power of Digital Video & Audio: Benelux Kicks, as the CS3 Buzz continues

I think the title really says it all here. It's only day 3 of the Benelux roadshow (technically, we've just finished day 2, so the official day 3 begins tomorrow) and already we've presented to nearly 1000 people!! Oh yeah. Antwerp found us in company of nearly 600, and Ghent (unbelievably beautiful city; hard to get to by taxi, but more on that later) found us in front of some 400+ people. Are you kidding me?? That's huge, people! Thanks to everyone in both cities for attending and for being part of this truly unique event. And of course, none of this would be possible without our good friends at Blue Projects. They're responsible for setting up the show, and making us all look and sound good. The best thing is, it's family, and I mean that sincerely. I mean, that's truly what makes this gig worthwhile; seeing the familiar faces, (in this case, Johan and Marietje), sharing a laugh, having a great time while we 'do our thing', and inspiring people with our new tools. In the end, it's really about the relationships you make on the road; and I'm indeed greatful for the friends in Benelux ;)

So, the cab ride from Antwerp to Ghent. Yeah...well, first of all, if you've never heard of Ghent (or Gent, for those outside of Belgium) don't worry, because evidently, there are a few taxi drivers that haven't heard of it either (or at least, they've never been there)! So there we are (me and Greg Rewis), having just finished this great show for a great crowd at the Kinepolis. Taxi's on it's way, and we're off to the next city. However, the beautiful weather that graced us earlier in the week has since disappeared, and now it's turning grey and beginning to rain. We hang out for about 20-25 minutes, and eventually the taxi arrives. We tell him where we're going, and we get a blank stare. Sadly, he has no GPS, no credit card machine, and we find out (after 20 minutes) that it's his second week on the job, and he really doesn't know where he's going!! Ok...i can understand that. We part amicably, and he assures us that the next taxi is on it's way. Several centimeters of rain, monsoon-like winds, and nearly 40 minutes later, another cab arrives. At this point, Greg and I are slightly drenched (though we took shelter), and we're visibly shivering. Good stuff; ahh, the glamourous road life indeed! So, fortunately, this driver had a GPS, and despite the long, slow-going traffic (and a bit of the stop-and-starts, which does great things to my sensitive stomach) we arrive in Ghent, unaware of where we're about to be. In short...a simply beautiful hotel in magnificently picturesque city. I wish we had more time there. It was breaktaking, and we only saw it in daylight for a few short hours.

And just on that, the architecture in the hotel was so spectacular that I just had to take some photographs. It's a combination of contemporary Scandinavian Design (moreso in the lounge and rooms; but you can see some here) mixed with a general Euro-Benelux kind of vibe. In short, simply beautiful, and enough so that I had to take dozens of photos. Here are just of few of the lobby (all encased in glass, up against all kinds of old, traditional flats) with the most engaging accent colors. You just had to see it. Oh, and Ghent really rocked indeed. I can't wait to return.

Ghent Hotel #1 & 2