Smart Meetings

Fleet Week is a San Francisco institution that has been going on for many years. The city is bustling with locals, visitors and patriots coming to see the ships, planes and members of the U.S. Navy. This past weekend, Fleet Week was as energetic as ever, and this San Francisco native got to experience the fun like a visitor. I was hosted at the Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf, a recently renovated 313-room property with 19,000 sq. ft. of function space right in the heart of all of the Fleet Week fun. In fact, the Blue Angels themselves were staying there—I met a whole group of them in the elevator on the way up to my room (swoon).


   Red and White Fleet cruise.

Saturday morning kicked off with a Red and White Fleet tour of the San Francisco Bay complete with an audio tour (available in many different languages). It was a brisk San Francisco morning with a light mist that typically envelops the city, but the Bay was peaceful and it was the perfect way to ease into a foggy Saturday, provided that you were adequately dressed.


   Marine Capt. Tyson W. Dunkelberger and Lt. Ben Walburn.

Later we had an exclusive press conference with two of the Blue Angels, Marine Capt. Tyson W. Dunkelberger and Lt. Ben Walburn, whose team flew out of SFO for the weekend’s show. The duo talked about their life on the road, how they became Blue Angels and much more. Prior to this trip, I didn’t know that the Blue Angels’ sole role was the promotion of the Navy. While members may have been active in the Navy prior to the position on the team, they tour the country promoting the Navy and encouraging recruitment. Another cool fact: we learned that weather is one of biggest factors that can affect their ability to fly. Later that day the rest of the show was cancelled to due to just that—San Francisco’s iconic fog, but I still managed to catch a few pics before they called it quits. Despite my quick camera skills, I owe the shots to the great vantage point from the roof of the Hyatt. The banquet team at the hotel set us up with a beautiful, rooftop lunch where we could see the city…sorry planners this space isn’t available for events.


   Blue Angels show.

Belly full of delicious food courtesy of Robert Carr, the hotel’s crafty chef, we took a site tour of the property and explored its meeting spaces, outdoor pool (a rarity in SF) and fitness center. Post-tour, the gang of us headed to Pier 39 for a little thrill ride on the RocketBoat. This high-speed boat took us all around the Bay with views of the sun setting, I managed to score a few shots with my right hand on the camera, but my left hand was holding on tight to the railing during the fast ride. After the mini-cruise, we headed out to explore the culinary offerings of the wharf in a dine around along the lively, wooden pier that held so many memories for me as a kid.


   RocketBoat.

Well, until next time San Francisco…oh wait, I live here—lucky me.