The night before his keynote, Denny looked for a hotel room in which to “prepare”  his speech. Already knowing that Ali was a woman who could get things done, Denny approached Ali and asked if he could have access to a place where he could practice his speech. Ali was able to grant him access to a suite and after 5 minutes of very serious practice, he played 5 hours of poker. Denny approached Ali after his keynote had been delivered and could not tell a fib, “Well, I don’t have a keynote tomorrow… but we are interested in playing poker again tonight – can you accommodate us?”

After the conference, Ali headed to Roma to live and play. A long while later Ali and Denny saw each other at work – had lunch and started chatting. They became fast friends. After months of chatting at lunch or randomly running into each other in the halls, it dawned on Ali – he had no reason to be in Building 1, let alone her office. Hmm. Nervously telling him her life history, Ali mentioned that she liked Bourbon, her independence, soccer, Italy and pink ponies. Wouldn’t you know it, Denny liked those very same things!

They had their first date at the Left Bank in Menlo Park on Friday, May 8, 2009. It was an unforgettable night for the pair. At the end of the evening, the midwestern gentleman walked the native Californian to her car, gave her a hug and said good night. They both knew that they had something special.

… and the rest, as they say, is history…