I returned yesterday from the Seattle/Tacoma trip.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Mars Hill Reunion 

I spent Saturday night with Jamie Munson an elder and Lead Pastor (Mark Driscoll is preaching pastor) at Mars Hill in Seattle.  Mars Hill has gone through a bit of transition and Jamie and I spoke about that.  We also spoke about how to create systems that reflect an organizations vision/values.  Through many seasons, Jamie has much to offer in this area of thought.  Lastly, he showed me a demo of their site, "The City" which was exciting and good timing since we launched a similar set of features with Ekklesia for churches and their members.

Soma School

Finished a week at Soma School.  Capped the week with lunch with Caesar Kalinowski and Jeff Vanderstelt. I continue to grow in my appreciation for the friendship and shared vision between Kaleo & Soma.  On Sunday I was able to spend the day with a family from Soma Community, Mark Tilden who took us (Bryce & Chad from Sojourn in Louisville pictured below, their wives inside in the warmth) on his yacht to Vashon Island.  Mark has built and sold internet companies, his latest venture is FlightStats.com so he and I spoke about entrepreneurial things together.

Heather & Family

My parents flew up from Sacramento and we all spent Friday/Saturday together at my brothers.  My wife, Heather and I took a walk around around the last place we lived in Seattle, Greenlake.  As you can see we weren't quite ready for the 'summer days' of Seattle, having been spoiled by San Diego's weather.  In all of our years in returned visits (we moved in 2001) we always run into people we know here, and this trip was no exception.  

All-in-all a very profitable trip connecting and learning from others.  I look forward to my next conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.