Welcome Home Debbie!

Originally uploaded by phxwebguy

The Arizona Improv has always been active in the community but has been doing more events as of late. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work with one of the members in other capacities when I saw this message come through on Twitter.

I though that it looked like a fun opportunity to help out with an event. So with camera in arm, I headed to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Not knowing what to expect and not having met anyone before, I found a bunch of people in the baggage claim of terminal four making signs. Deciding that this must be the place I hung out and was greeted by familiar faces as they walked in.

The plan was simple. Find a chauffeur that was waiting for someone that had their full name on a piece of paper and tell them that you were waiting for that person too. The execution was not as simple. At the time there were very few chauffeurs with full names written out so, it took a while to find one. Once we did, we relayed the name to the team who quickly updated their signs to include Debbie’s name. The group gathered with the driver, who even asked for a sign, and we were all set.

The group got several inquiries about where Debbie had been and how we knew her. Stories ranged from she was returning from Iraq to returning from college. We had never seen Debbie, but the team lead quickly searched the internet for a photo on his mobile phone which returned multiple results. Well, here goes nothing.

As Debbie arrived, she was elated. She was given balloons and flowers. She repeatedly asked if it was for the right person and asked if we weren’t crazy. She was so excited and stopped for a picture with the group. We even let her keep a couple of the signs. Additionally, over the public address system, the message could be heard saying “Welcome back Debbie.”

For those of you that don’t know, the Improv has been performing countless acts of public works including “freeze” operations to their “no pants” public transportation rides. I was happy to be a part of such a fun operation. It was so fun to be able to make her day. The look of happiness on her face never left for several minutes. A special thank you to the Improv of Phoenix for helping to make everyone’s days just a little bit brighter.

Phoenix Light Rail Grand Opening Celebration

Originally uploaded by phxwebguy

The grand opening of the Phoenix Metro Light Rail was a pretty good time. I had a lot of fun going across town, meeting friends and discovering new parts of the cities. In my eyes, the event was a success. There have been some interesting comments in regards to how people are judging success due to the fact that the trains we simply packed with people. At some stops it was hard to get off at times and other stations were pretty much vacant.

It was awesome to see such a great turnout and it remains to be seen how the new light rail will benefit the Valley transportation. I believe that the Light Rail is a great addition to the Metro area and I am excited to see how it evolves.

This video contains some clips that I was able to get before my battery quit on me. There are additional pictures that can be found on my Flickr photostream. Feel free to give those a browse.