A Fantastic Day: My Visit to Spyderco!

Pneumothorax · #1

Last week, I had a medical convention thatw we were exhibiting at in Denver and I also had a free day...I finally got to visit Spyderco on Wed. 5/18. I emailed my two main contacts and found out that Charlynn would be there (yea!), but Kristi would be out of town (bummer). I got there around 11am and met Charlynn right away and she showed me aorund the SFO store and handed me off to the crew there. It was great to finally meet Charlynn after many emails and lots of her help. Great gal!

While in the store, Eric came by and we chatted for a while and then Sal came by and chatted for a while more. We of course talked knives and I gushed about how much I respected what they do at Spyderco. They were both great to talk to and down to earth. I was on cloud nine! Then a little later Joyce Laituri (marketing guru extraordinaire) came down for a visit and we talked about how great the forum is and finally Gail came by and we chatted some more. In between, I got to talk Mike & Barry (retired part time SFO) in the store about all the knives in the displays...just too much fun!!

For my purchases, I finally bought an FRN Stretch in honor of Sal and also picked up a Native 4 Carbon Fiber that I have been looking for forever. They were nice enough to throw in some pins and USB drives and Gail even gave me a polo shirt!!

All in all the fastest 2 hours I ever spent in my life. I was so geeked up that I forgot to take all the pics that I thought I would take. I apologize for the long post, but Im still so excited about my visit to mecca that I have to share. Just fantastic. I cannot say enough about how nice everyone was. A special day and now I have some special knives to commemorate my 1st visit. Will post some pics in a bit - having some technical difficulties.

Stuart Ackerman · #2

Great stuff...!!!
I am so envious, and one day maybe I might actually get there...

gbelleh · #3

Sounds great! I hope to get over there to visit someday soon (it's only an 8 hour drive!).

Popsickle · #4

my favorite city in the US is Denver, Colorado...trying to convince my wife to move there. but either way, we will deff visit one day and i plan on bringing my piggy bank with me when i go to the SFO ;-)

Donut · #5

Wow, sounds like a nice trip. :)

Congrats on all of it.

ChapmanPreferred · #6

Excellent trip. It is rare to see all those great folks in one short visit. They travel a lot.

toomzz · #7

Great event, don´t forget the Glessers are just people :D
I met them last March in Amsterdam and indeed they are really kind, especially Gail.....

T.

JLS · #8

Very cool visit!

I still haven't made it over the mountain from Utah, but will do it someday.

Jonj480 · #9

Unfortunately, last time I was in Golden, I didn't get past the Coors Brewery...

Pinetreebbs · #10

Wow, what a great experience.

One day, Golden, CO! Closest so far was a plane change in Denver and a view of the Colorado mountains from high up in the New Mexico mountains.

spydutch · #11

That must have been great. :cool:
Never been to Golden and probably never will, but a got a change to chat a bit with Sal and Eric at the A'dam meet of 2006 and I remeber it like it was yesterday.

Both Sal and Eric are very down to earth and warm people

araneae · #12

Sounds like you had fun Mike. Hope I can make it there some day.

Pneumothorax · #13

Trying to post a couple pics from the visit:
Eric, me (Mike), Sal -
9/11 exhibit - very powerful!
Store cases - 2 - adult candy store!!
Mike, Gail, Barry - Mike & Barry retired part time guys (that's how I want to retire!)

Well worth the visit if you're in town - FYI, cab was about $45 one way from downtown. I was going to rent a car for $50, but it would have cost me $50 just to get to the airport to get the car for that one day, so I bit the bullet and cabbed it.

#14

Hi Pneumothorax,

Thanx for visiting the store. It's always pleasant to put a face to a name. Thanx also for the support.

sal

toomzz · #15

Cool pics PT, especially the first one

I can imagine it was a candystore for adults. Especially because it´s ´Spydie´s homebase´ in Golden. I know the candy-store feeling. Can you imagine how I felt when I found in a similar candy-store a Millie S90V CF last month? :D

KBR · #16

Sounds like you had an awesome time. I really love the fact that Sal, Eric and Spydie crew are so down to earth and eager to meet their ELUs and, as Sal mentioned, put a face to the name. One day, I hope to make it out to every Spydie fans' graceland, disneyland, etc., etc...... :D

SQSAR · #17

I guess I'm spoiled in the fact that I work only 5-10 minutes from there. I'm sure my wife wishes I worked much farther away :rolleyes: . I probably get up there once every few weeks and every single time I go I leave impressed with the professionalism and friendly demeanor of the SFO staff. They are VERY patient people as I often ask to look at knife after knife after knife, , , comparing 3, 4, or 5 and trying to narrow it down to the one I will purchase that visit. I think all Spyderco enthusiasts who visit the SFO for the 1st time will leave being even bigger fans.

JediKnight86 · #18

Sweet! I'm pretty sure I'll get there one day. My plan is to stop there and in Boise to visit CRK while on a motorcycle trip, on my BMW R1200GS that I don't have yet.

Mr Blonde · #19

Sounds like you had more than a great time. I've been there myself a couple of times and you capture the experience very well. Thanks for the pics!

Slash · #20

good times I could imagine. did you pay retail for those knives or get a deal?