Spent a few days since arrival exploring Provence, trying the raceway and visiting Marseille. There was a local faction running routes but the language barrier must have kept us getting past 'hello'.
Thinking about proper presentation of our organization was nagging at me, and unfortunately my trustworthy Grouse wasn't going to give the image I wanted to the public to remember. I decided to again upgrade the ship - to a Civilian Ferry! That doesn't give us much extra room, but it is the more passenger friendly craft.
The 'net said that Bonn Station was the closest location that had the Democritus- so we found Gallic passengers wanting to check out Rheinland, and were ok with my Bonn destination.
Again, during the trip, my attention was drawn to ALG activities - they are one busy group! In Cologne, I noted a small base outside just outside the orbit of Planet Saarbrucken - my guess again working to clean up and recover the wrecks scattered throughout the nearby debris field. I give them props, it's a large project!
We grabbed a load of cigars as additional cargo from Gallia before departing - I know we've had no problems offloading such commodities in the past. This turned out to be the case once we reached Bonn Station - traders grabbed them almost as fast as I entered them into the inventory system!
So upon entering the ship dealer, I felt we had a bit of a disadvantage as this savvy salesman had noted my queries for this particular vessel and that they originated from a Gallic terminal. Hard to hide enthusiasm for a product when it is known how far you've traveled to see it!
As it turned out, though, all was not lost - the only ship of this type they had was not only decommissioned from OS&C, but it had a hard ride through some house public transit fleet. Despite their best efforts to hide such wear and tear, it showed. I played up my disappointment enough for a significant discount as well as credit hours in their bay to apply some detailing by the crew and myself. I must admit I was impressed by our efforts - seems the crew gives the extra 10% when overtime and Rheinbeer are offered!
We took some time remaining awhile on station to relax - but my mind was still racing towards next steps... time to get some contracts and clients... maybe cold calling or advertising to get the word out about our services. I knew our next run back to Liberty would be on auto-pilot with all these ideas running through my head!
[22.11.2024 01:23:47] =IT=Mercury: Hey there - greetings from Interstellar Transit.
[22.11.2024 01:23:54] UC/-GoluVague: Bonjour!
[22.11.2024 01:24:37] 2024-11-22 01:24:33 SMT Traffic control alert: =IT=Mercury has docked
[22.11.2024 01:26:40] =IT=Mercury: Any points of interest in this system besides the great views and that awesome raceway?
[22.11.2024 01:27:39] 2024-11-22 01:27:35 SMT Traffic control alert: UC/-GoluVague has docked
After recovering from all the great efforts the crew put into getting the Ferry 'passenger ready', we found our first contract with a Rheinland group that was headed to Interspace's Newark Station in New York on business. It could've just been that we were ON an Interspace station already, but the running joke was our efforts immediately paid off as we no longer looked like just another transport. Whatever the reason, our fare was ready, so we loaded up our secondary cargo of Rheinbeer and set off for Liberty.
As we set out, I got in touch with our Manhattan HQ and asked them to 'get creative' with some options for advertising our organization, in hopes of growing the business and perhaps relying more on contracts rather than just piecemeal work that we'd appreciated so far. They seemed VERY enthusiastic - almost to the point where I started to wonder if I'd made a mistake. I was about to tell them so and to wait for my arrival - but they quickly said they'd take care of it and cut the transmission. I have a feeling they've got too much free time - again another reason for trying for more business - we aren't busy enough it seems!
New Berlin, Hamburg, and even Bering systems were actually quiet this ride out - as if I'd planned a light ride for our inaugural flight with this small yacht. I wasn't complaining - the last thing I need business types seeing is hostile actions nearby - it could affect our customer ratings!
As we entered the New York system, there was a message waiting - a demo of the ad work that the office team had put together using local talent and their own skillsets. It seems a little over the top for the simple ads I requested - but hey, I'd rather have the team excited about their job and going over and above when given assignments!
I left the demo attached to the supporting Images & Videos, as I've done with all prior video footage from these flights.
It's been one of those weeks. Things are still getting accomplished but I haven't left Manhattan since returning from Newark Station after our return from Rheinland.
Paperwork, planning, and projects have been the order of the day - but thankfully the crazy factor of the week is winding down and the office will hopefully return to normalcy.
My small advertising project turned into a production - but I think we've got some decent results that we just need some group opinions on before hitting the public with our message. So many submissions - I only added a few to this entry.
Aside from this distraction, drafts of many a cold call are ready to go - we need steady opportunities getting funneled in to justify hiring more captains and financing more ships.
But my gut and the business I've done so far says that the economy and vitality of this industry can and will support us as a player - we just have step forward and stake our claim!
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