From...

April 16, 1999
Web posted at: 6:10 p.m. EDT (2210 GMT)

by Laura Rich

(IDG) -- When Fred Siegal left QVC to take a job as senior VP of marketing at Redwood City, Calif.-based Excite last October, he says he anticipated some adventure. But not this much. Siegal looks back on his debut:

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DAY 1:
Cab driver gets lost on way to Excite. Arrive, have three media phone interviews thrown at me before I put my bags down. Finish interviews, go to staff meeting, get introduced. Get yanked from building to pick up car – bright yellow Mazda Miata with "EXCITE" written (literally) all over the outside. Drive back to office.

LATER THAT DAY:
Go to apartment shared by other Excite executives. Walk three blocks from apartment to find food. Go into Borders bookstore and ask where I am: "Palo Alto," I'm told. Go back to apartment, go to sleep.

EVEN LATER:
Wake up in dark, walk to bathroom, collide with other guy in underwear who welcomes me to Excite.

NEXT DAY:
Drive up to Sonoma for rope-climbing course with total strangers (actually, my new colleagues). Wear bright-blue helmet and harness all day long. Engage in planning for 1999 for three more days, head home.

WEEK 2:
Cannot recall a single thing other than going to New York to approve campaign from ad agency.

WEEK 3:
Lots of meetings. Lots of meetings in L.A. Lots more meetings. Get stopped for speeding in Menlo Park, still driving bright yellow Miata. Cop asks whether Excite is a good stock to buy (only in Silicon Valley). Arrive at apartment ticked off, only to find a stranger (male) in my bed.