Jim Satterwhite

Like the attendees at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Jim Satterwhite, CEO of Venture Pointe, was stranded by the airline stoppage while away from home on a business trip.

“When I did make it home, I found that my car was one of the very few left in the airport garage. The police had come through and towed off any car that could not be actively tied to a local address and flight schedule. The car was literally ringed with police tape and emergency cones. It was very eerie removing all the tape from my car and driving out of the garage with literally no one around. There were no gate workers, nothing — just dead silence throughout the airport property.”

 “As for technology, I’m pretty sure we all just had BlackBerrys back then, no FaceTime, Zoom or Teams. Communication was much harder than it would be now. That being said, we also were all better protected against disinformation being spread. Fear and anxiety were high, but people talked to each other, called each other sat with each other sharing their fears and anger.”

“What I recall the most is that America was American. Everyone stood with each other. People came out of their houses and sat with their neighbors. People called longtime friends just to check on them. The country was united. As terrible a time that was for the country, I think it was also the last time the entire country stood together. Wish we had more of that now versus where we have come to as a country.”