I was just cooking myself lunch, and an old memory came back to me. It was probably around 2001, and I was working in Ottawa. A company in Silicon Valley called me up and asked if I wanted to come down and interview for a fiber optics job. I was only mildly interested in the job, but I hadn’t been to California in a long time, and I thought I’d hear what they had to say. I didn’t really feel like traveling alone, so I asked if they’d be interested in pitching my friend Rob also, which they agreed to.
So anyways, one Thursday afternoon I was sitting in Rob’s apartment in Ottawa, drinking a bunch of beer prior to our flight to San Jose. We got there late at night, and eventually found our way to the Fairmont San Jose hotel. We had early morning interviews, which lasted probably four hours or so. You could tell they were super desperate to have people join their team, as they had far more work than they had employees to do the work.
After the interviews, the CEO called Rob and I into his office and asked us what our plans were for the weekend. We said we weren’t really sure, but were hoping to have a good time and do some sight seeing. In response to that, the CEO took out two pieces of paper and signed the bottom of both, then slid them across the table. They were in fact full-page expense reports for the company, with the CEO’s signature down at the bottom, indicating they were already pre-approved. Basically we had carte blanche for the weekend to spend whatever.
Man, those were the days.
And did you two use those blank expense reports to have fun in San Jose? And of course then not take the job?
Actually, we both knew we didn’t want the jobs, and we didn’t feel right exploiting them. So other than a few beers, and some food, we didn’t rack up any significant expenses.
Had I known the dot com bubble would have burst then though, you can rest assured Rob and I would have been racing around San Jose in some rented Ferraris!
Ahhh the memories…
Good times. I forgot all about the blank expense forms. That sure was a crazy trip. Let’s do it again sometime and see if there are anymore weddings at the Fairmont to crash.
Rob!! Thanks for dropping by. Good times.
Just so everyone knows the story. Rob and I brought our suits down for the interview. After it was over, we decided to get all spiffed up in our suits and hang out in the Fairmont Lounge all night. We were drinking martini’s all night and other fancy drinks, and noticed all these snazzy people going upstairs. So we walked upstairs and snuck our way into a huge wedding reception with an open bar upstairs.
When someone asked why we were there, I told them we were good friends with the bride. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t a wedding, but was an Ernst and Young party instead. Thankfully our secret was kept safe, and we continued to drink all night.
I found a photo of Rob from that trip down in San Jose! It was Rob in front of his first palm tree ever.
Enjoy!
The original ‘wedding crashers’! Nice! Even if it wasn’t a wedding.
I am going to suggest this to my uber-conservative ex-military CEO as a closing tactic. And then run.