I’m heading to Tokyo tomorrow on business with SocialRep. A lot of friends in the SocialRep circle have been asking about the trip, so I’ve decided to blog it as a way of exploring a new line of  public communication, and maybe a new voice, about what we’re up to. 

SocialRep is a startup in the social media space. We’re developing applications for enterprise marketing organizations. Technically we’re still under the radar, so if there are some gaps in the picture I paint about the whole project, bear with me. We’ve just completed our first round of pilots with an international client based in Tokyo. The pilot went very well, and I’m heading to Tokyo to meet up with my partner there for meetings with our client to post mortem pilot 1, and lay the groundwork for pilot 2.

As fate would have it, I’ve got a number of ties in Tokyo now, which will make the trip a lot more fun and interesting. SocialRep’s virtual CFO is an Aussie expatriot based in Tokyo. Like me, he’s heavily into bikes and snow, and he has a cabin in Gunma. So my first order of business in Japan is to try out the 1.5 meters of powder that just dumped in the mountains west of Tokyo. I never imagined I’d ever snowboard in Japan, so this promises to be an experience.

Back in Tokyo, I’ll be staying with my sister and her family, who’ve been living there for two years where my brother in law runs the Tokyo office of OpenWave. I’m looking forward to a home away from home with family. And finally, my former business partner Kenichi is back in Tokyo, working as Creative Director for Landor. Kenichi was co-founder and creative director for Cymbic, back in our heyday doing integrated marketing and branding in San Francisco.

So I’ve got a new partner, an old partner, a key advisor, a client and family who are all opening their doors and promising to show me around Tokyo. It promises to be a great trip. I’ll post impressions and insights over the next week, and find my way in talking more about what we’re up to at SocialRep.