The moment of truth has arrived.
The day of the big new business pitch has arrived.
It’s like the killer exam in third year university. The door has been firmly shut. The adjudicator has taken his seat. Your trembling hand reaches for the first page. There is no time to run out and wish you had studied more.
It’s time to present the pitch. Continue reading “Grand Slam”
I often wonder what people are thinking when we get in front of them to make a new business pitch.
We had a couple going on last week. Big ones. Agency game-changers in fact.
Each is with blue chip companies. Good-sized budgets. Great brands. Plus a history of doing interesting experiential and event work. Which makes me both excited and nervous.
Often people ask me to provide them examples of our best pitch ever. Hard to say. Perhaps because the process is like speed dating meets job interviewing. Continue reading “Home Run”
There is an old poem, author unknown, which includes a key stanza by which I have always lived my life. It goes like this:
Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is Silver,
The other Gold.
I have tried to live most of my life and my career this way. Like any principle, it’s easier said than done. But it’s probably the most valuable one I have professionally. Continue reading “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old”
It’s a bit of an oxymoron, but lunching with Andy Nulman is a gas. If you don’t know Andy Nulman, he is the über-charismatic president of the Just for Laughs Festival. It’s his second stint with JFL, the first starting after he was fired as a journalist at 23 and then in 15 meteoric years rose to CEO of JFL. Then left to start Airborne Entertainment, sold it for $110 million, then bought it back for way less, and then returned to JFL in 2010. Wow… And what have YOU done in the last 20 years?
Last week, I jammed a whirlwind dose of Montréal into a 27-hour window. It’s amazing to me that despite the fact I go to the village formerly known as Hochelaga quite often, it never feels often enough. That’s good news for Porter, as I need to go back again soon. What I have realized is that it’s more than the charm of the city and the lure of its events that keeps me coming, but rather it’s the people that provide its spark. Continue reading “Tour de Montréal”
It seems this time of year, journalists get even lazier than normal and run endless versions of Year in Review, Year in Photos, Year in Quotes, Year in Tweets, etc.
So as a casual blogger and wannabe scribe, am I going to hold myself to a higher bar? Heck no. My middle name is “Bandwagon,” so look out because I am jumping on. Continue reading “Not Another “Year in Review””
We are pitching on a music program right now, perhaps against some of my loyal readers, and I was asked by my staff to provide a favourite music memory.
Mine was J. Giles Band-inspired. Yes, back in grade 10, some girl named Beth dumped my (then) skinny behind, for my best friend Bill. True story. I then proceeded to play the aforementioned “Love Stinks” on my SEARS brand stereo (yes, true story) about twenty times a day for nearly a month. My poor dad threatened to shut off the power if he heard that same beat one more time during his morning coffee.
Love doesn’t actually stink. But jealousy, in a grade 10 sort of way, certainly does.
Yesterday at the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada Breakfast Forum, I talked about some of my current jealousies. Specifically, sponsorship programs that I have seen recently, of which I had NO part in, but wish I did. Continue reading “12 Partnerships I Loved in 2011”
I’m reading a book about da Vinci that I picked up at a museum in Rome right now. Timely, because until Wednesday of this week I was convinced Leonardo had been reincarnated. His second life name was Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs was my undisputed business hero.
I loved Steve Jobs.
I love Apple. Continue reading “The Real Mona Lisa: Why I Loved Steve Jobs”
Somewhere, there are three sneaky people hiding in a room.
I don’t know where. Maybe in New Brunswick. Or perhaps in Tennessee. One of my friends believes they are in South Asia.
The location isn’t important — but their role in the world is. They are the barriers between you and whatever it is you need.
Maybe it’s booking a cable appointment. Or a flight, using your points. Perhaps your need is to get help with a website order. Or information on filling out a government form.
It could be anything.
But it’s far from anything. It’s a nightmare. Also known in business parlance as the call centre. Continue reading “A-ONE SCAM”
