Beijing Boyce

I usually don’t write about work-related events I attend, unless they involve haggis. One exception is the Kentucky Trade Center’s one-year anniversary celebration last week. Five things that made it a good event:

The crowd was eclectic - how often do you find a U.S. Governor, Miss University China and the owner of Steaks and Eggs all within a few meters of one other? There were plenty of interesting food and beverage people, including from Hatsune, Papa John’s and Sequoia Cafe, along with the media, business and government types.

The speeches were short - well except for the guy who went on about Bourbon, but it was bearable, given that I was sipping…

Woodford Reserve. This is an excellent Bourbon, and if the Kentucky state slogan is “Unbridled Spirit”, then this event’s was “Unbridled Spirits”, because this hard-to-find alcohol was being served free-flow, as were a variety of cocktails, including Mint Juleps.

My Old Kentucky Home - There’s something nice about watching people sing their nation’s or state’s song. It always pushes up the mood a few notches.

The gift bag - It included not one but two bottles of Bourbon — Jim Beam and Early Times — and a silver-plated tumbler, Kentucky pin, and reprint of an early Kentucky Derby poster. Some lucky person will win them at our next staff raffle (while I end up with my usual prize of pictorial coasters from some third-tier city).

Note: After the party, I checked out the Hilton’s Zeta Bar and its Tonic Lounge with Frank and Jennifer Siegel. I think Zeta has one of the more interesting designs in the city and the martini I had was pretty good. Tonic seems more like a place I’d relax in if I were a guest of the hotel, though the place did have Samuel Adams beer.