On Wednesday, my friend Lonnie, who owns Renaissance Video, asked me if I could help him film a two-day corporate training seminar for Cushman and Wakefield, one of the biggest real estate companies in the world, at the Harrison Conference Center in Glen Cove, Long Island. He told me that he would pay me a nice amount of money for the two day gig – and that the work itself would be minimal. I, of course, jumped at the offer – and wound up having the time of my life.

My friend Lisa and I, along with Dave, another cameraman, left at 7:00am for the one hour drive to the Harrison. When we got here, we were all taken back by the beauty of the place. Built in 1910, it was once a mansion, which has now been converted into a hotel – and sits on fifty-five acres of beautifully manicured landscape, which really helps make the place a true sight to see.

The job consists of filming individual role-playing exercises for each agent that attended the seminar. These sessions are then burned onto a DVD and played back for the agent with a coach – who will go over the good points and bad points of their presentations. All of the agents who attended were broken down into groups and given their own videographer. My group has eight students – and is meeting in the hotel’s Pine Room.

From 9:00am to 5:00pm yesterday, I filmed three segments for each agent, only breaking for lunch. At the end of the day, we planned to head right home – but instead stayed for a barbecue – and then for the night.

At 7:00pm, Cushman and Wakefield threw a barbecue for their agents, which we decided to crash. I am unclear as to whether or not we were invited – but that never mattered to us – and since nobody asked us to leave – I guess we were welcome to attend after all. As the drinks flowed and the food was served, I started getting as excited as a kid in a candy store. Here I was, eating some great food and drinking a cold beer while listening to music outside in the hotel’s garden on a beautiful summer’s night. I remember bringing up the fact that I wish we could stay the night, instead of having to drive all the way home just to have to come right back the next morning. After some discussion about whether or not we should stay – Lonnie returned to the table with two hotel room keys – and my excitement level quadrupled – because the job I was hired for had just turned into a mini-vacation.

If there is one thing that I really love, it’s unexpectedly getting away from it all, even if just for one night. I did that when I went to Boston in October – and when I went to my friend Howard’s house in Commack, New York last month. Nothing beats being handed a free vacation with no notice – and putting your everyday life on hold and kissing it good-bye – even if just for a little while.

At the barbecue, they had Karaoke, which no one was participating in. Towards the end of the party, one guy sang Wind Beneath My Wings – and silenced the stunned crowd. After his performance, Noel, a member of my group who lives in Texas – asked everyone in the crowd if they were “Down with O-P-P.” Seeing that, and hearing a few rap songs – I, to my own surprise, grabbed the microphone and rapped Tupac Shakur’s Changes – thankfully to the delight of the crowd. After I was done, I returned to my table – and saw the shocked looks on their faces. Personally, I love opening up and just being myself when I am out of my element – and that’s just what I did last night.

After the barbecue, I went to the upstairs pub to mingle with some of the people I met both during the seminars and at the barbecue. I spent a good portion of the night there, chatting with agents and brokers from all over the world, including California, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Chicago – and Prague. We discussed billiards, what it is like living in the different states and countries that we live in – and my now infamous rap song that garnered me the nickname “Tupac” – which is all anyone called me for the rest of the night.

After leaving the bar and melting into bed, I woke up this morning and drove with my friend Lisa to Target, so we could buy toiletries, as well as a change of clothes for today’s taping. Then, after a quick breakfast, we filmed the second half of the seminars this morning, broke for lunch, and began to film again. The rest of our day consists of finishing filming, finalizing all of the DVDs – and breaking down all of the equipment and carting it home.

Due to the amount of work that lies ahead, the vacation part of these last two days have come to an end. But although I did come here to work, I really enjoyed the last forty-eight hours here. The people were very nice, the food was superb – and the nightlife was a blast. I thank Lonnie for not only giving me the opportunity to make such cash – but for giving me yet another fun weekend to remember for the rest of my life.