"Headed for the Frisco Bay"

When the air hostess calls you ‘baby’. When you are allowed to listen in to the pilots talking to each other before landing and they wish each other a pleasant day. When a large, freshly squeezed orange juice (to stay in) costs one pound forty. Then, reader, you know that you are in the United States.

I am here in the fourth most populous city in America, San Francisco, for the very first Web Mission. 20 UK web companies are with me to explore opportunities, present their businesses to investors and to meet like-minded entrepreneurs . As I stepped onto the plane, the very last email I checked came from a team member at a little local company they call ‘Google’. It ended;

“I can easily arrange a visit for you and your group…

…We have tea, coffee and ice cream”

This is not a line I recall hearing in London recently.

Beginning with drinks this evening at The Clift Hotel, we’re all off to brunch tomorrow. Might I add that rolling two meals into one is not something I’m planning on making a habit of here, sadly for my health regime. On Monday evening we’ll hear first hand how Michael Birch turned Bebo into the success story that it is today and on tuesday the companies will dust off their pitching shoes as they meet face-to-face with some of the leading VCs in Silicon Valley.

Sitting just off Union Square this afternoon, the sun is shining and the wind whistles up the steep streets as the occasional tram tinkles by. I can’t help admitting I’m looking forward to this adventure, reader. Frank Sinatra famously left his heart in this city. It’s early days, but I’m beginning to see why.