In 2005, as Yahoo! News’ first correspondent, former television news veteran Kevin Sites set out to cover every major war zone in the world for Yahoo!. Iraq, Cambodia, Kashmir, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Haiti, Myanmar, Uganda, Colombia… His mission was to tell the stories that weren’t being told, reporting what he witnessed for a year-long project called “Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone.”

Kevin was at Yahoo!’s Sunnyvale campus today to discuss the book he’s written about his experience, “In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars.” Kevin was here today to share his stories, and I was asked to share a little about my experience “In the Hot Zone.”

You see, during his journey around the world, I was responsible for booking nearly all of his travel over the course of the year-long project. As you may imagine, Kevin is not your typical Yahoo! business traveler, and as a result our relationship has grown into a valuable friendship. And when you have a unique relationship with a “client” like him, it can make for some interesting stories.

For example, over the holidays in 2005 while in the middle of his project, Kevin ran out of cash. A major annoyance for anyone out on the road, but a potentially life-threatening problem for a solo war reporter who happens to be in Iran without money to pay his “fixer” (a foreign reporter’s lifeline who acts as a guide and translator). His American-based editorial team asked if they could pay by credit card or check, and quickly learned that not only was that not an option, but it was impossible for them to wire Kevin money while he was in Iran. Having been born in Iran, I happened to know of some folks who were about to go back home to Iran at this exact time. Because we had already established a trusting relationship with one another, I volunteered to help. The team gave me the cash Kevin needed, and I in turn gave it to my friend, who then took it to Iran and hand-delivered it to Kevin’s translator.

It’s not every day that I help my clients by facilitating the hand-delivery of cash across international borders, but it was definitely worth it. This story didn’t make it into the book, but there are plenty of important stories about Kevin’s experiences, and the people he met that did.

During today’s talk, Kevin took a moment to thank me for supporting the Hot Zone project, which I found both meaningful and unnecessary. Kevin is the most amazing client I have ever worked with, and I am proud to have been a part of the Hot Zone project.

I should also mention that at today’s discussion, Kevin was accepting donations the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), an organization that advocates on behalf of victims of armed conflict. He’s donated a portion of his royalties to this organization, and we raised more than $1000 today! Click here to learn more.

Farah Ravon
Lead Travel Agent
BCD Travel (Yahoo!’s on-site travel agency)