The traditional yellow brick road usually leads to Emerald City, but at this year’s Round-Up that road led to a service hallway at the Arlington Convention Center. During the kick-off reception on April 16th, a threatening tornado closed in on the glass-encased reception gallery and all 250 people had to be evacuated.

From first glance, this situation might seem disastrous – and it could have been. But with our members, when you combine excitement, danger, food and music - something magical happens. The 45-minute “confinement” created an atmosphere of anticipation about what would happen next. It also served as a convenient ice- breaker to strike up conversations with potential business customers.

After the tornado passed, the group moved back out to the gallery where the program continued with Lockheed Martin’s Dave Cave singing, “God Bless the USA”. The music continued with Fingerprints, the jazz band rounding out the evening.

Leave it to our members to find business opportunities even in stressful situations like this one. All in all, there was much more networking done than grumbling and the Arlington Convention Center staff had a lot to do with keeping us safe and having fun. Thankfully, the tornadoes and accompanying storms left the Metroplex without causing any serious injury.

Please plan to join us next year for the 8th Annual Round-Up Trade Fair on April 21-22, 2003. You never know what we might do!