As if you didn’t know already, we were in New York last week launching KILTR V1 onto the US market. It was quite a buzz, sitting in a hotel in Manhattan watching the unprecedented activity we had on KILTR while gearing up to launch on that very same evening.
We packed in a lot and met many people, too much to talk all about here so I will summarise the highlights: the Tech Tuesday networking event at our hotel, the Tribeca grand where we were staying, The Tartan Clef Reception – where we met a host of individuals involved with Scotland Week including Creative Scotland, SDI and many more. We also managed to fit in a gig by Tartan Clef winners Song of Return at the famous Joe’s Pub in New York’s East Village – they were absolutely amazing! We dropped into the Whisky Live event at Chelsea Pier, where the who’s who of New York’s whisky connoisseurs invited us to sample a wide variety of whiskies the world over from Sweden to South Africa.
Thursday was stressful and incredible all at once. Having organised the event, it was up to me to ensure a smooth and slick event reflected the amazing work the whole KILTR team had put in over the past 18 months: catering, live streaming, venue, tweeting, KILTR and a million other things. We had a wide selection of individuals at the event from the New York tech scene to Scotland Week representatives, Ex Pats and NYC Press.
The whole thing went by so quickly, but dare I say it, we pulled it off….
Friday I took some time out, checked out Central Park and some record shops, the former was probably a personal highlight, a bit like a bigger version of Glasgow’s Botanic gardens. I also took a trip up to the former home of Ex Beatle John Lennon which was amazing.
Saturday we were invited by The American Scots Foundation to join the Tartan Day parade, an amazing experience, walking down the middle of 6th Avenue as part of a parade of 5000 people. Following that, we were invited to attend the reception where actor Brian Cox addressed guests and we networked with other members of the American Scots Foundation.
If I had to take one thing from all the amazing experiences and people we met during our week in NYC, I would say it is the vast potential KILTR possesses as a network for Scots in America. Our commitment to reach out to Scots across the world is well known, but it is not until you speak to those people in person, before you truly realize the potential KILTR has to achieve it’s goal.
KILTR CEO Brian Hughes @WeWork
Björn Sandberg, KILTR Community Manager
