Over the past week and a half, I’ve been describing the b5 offices to curious friends and family. Well, this week we’re lucky to have Tris and CJ in town, and Tris happens to be a stellar photog - sooooo, it’s no surprise that some wicked photos from around the office and last nights festivities are now available. Oh, and below is me - working hard at my desk (hah! digital proof!).
I’ve written this “new opportunities” type post about five times now. Read them aloud, deleted drafts…and inevitably started all over from scratch.
Here we go again.
As some of you already know, this will be my final trek to LA for MusicIP. I can’t even begin to cover what I’ve gained/learned/picked up over the last three years. I’d get all misty eyed and you’d probably move on to another, more succinct, publication that’s not on a scenic train ride through memoryville.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with and get to know some incredibly talented, passionate people. What attracts me to startup culture the most is that overachievers and workaholics surround you. There’s something slightly manic but so electrifying to walk into such a fast moving atmosphere everyday. Given the taste, I think it would be hard to ever go back to a 9-5 position somewhere. A <blech> job.
These are folks I admire and will absolutely miss - writing up the resignation letter was the easy part…actually telling this second family of mine that I’m moving on proved far more difficult.
Even more heart twisting/warming is how supportive and quite simply…*ridiculously awesome* my MIP family has been over the last couple of weeks. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
So…
Where am I headed, you ask?
b5media - a rapidly growing blog network that I’ve been familiar with for quite some time now. Just a thirty minute walk from my apartment and home to a fantastic crew I’m thrilled and honoured to start working with (notice the ‘u’ - I really am home…). Fortunately for me, I don’t have an international move looming like other startup junkies I know…but I do have some difficult emotions to sort through. Fortunately, I’m running toward something - and that something is an incredibly big opportunity I’m dying to dig into.
Oh - and of course, I’ll be back there to visit. California couldn’t 100% get rid of me that easily.
So, as many of you know, I “work from home”. I’m one of a growing number of people who has a home office, the opportunity to cuddle with a kitten in between typing, and no long commute in the morning.
Some thoughts on the subject.
There you have it - that pretty much sums up how I keep my sanity, balance, and focus as a telecommuter. The way I see it, and from past experience, letting any of these key pieces go only results in a work day that never ends and productivity that goes down the drain.
What’s the first thing you want to do after a tradeshow?
Hibernate for a month? Spend a couple hundred bones at the spa? Intensive twenty-four hour therapy to hopefully repress the whole thing?
All good options…but if you pick one, you’re going to miss out on a big opportunity to make a difference in your marketing program. Because remember…CES 2009 is only twelve short months away.
Are you cringing/rolling your eyes yet?
Right - it feels like you’ve got tons of time. All spring…all summer…then you might need to work a teensy bit harder around October-November and you’ll be able to breeze into January…arms full of chatchkas, fresh piles of business cards, stacks of product sheets, and an army of perfectly trained booth babes by your side.
Excuse me while I take a minute to laugh so hard I fall off my chair.
Here’s a better idea, and a few simple measures that will make a big difference in keeping things on track. In order to actually have a holiday before CES, you’ve got to be committed to the show all year round…especially in the first few weeks that follow.
Your metrics are your best friend, but they’re useless if you don’t start the tracking/brainstorming process right away. The memories and interesting ideas fade all too quickly. It may seem like overkill and is probably the last thing you want to think about…but in eleven months, you’ll thank yourself.
Back in Pasadena with a kitty by my side and a puppy snuggled on Adam’s shoulder, I have a few moments for some reflection on the show. What’s funny is that instead of trying to block the last week (and the months leading up to it) out of my head, my primary focus has been on writing down everything that I liked or noticed needed improvement for next year. For 2008, my number one goal is proper planning through the entire year - last year, CES wasn’t my baby until we were about six months out…and wrapping up a re-brand in late October doesn’t exactly make it easy to have everything ready to go far in advance.
A couple of things I was particularly pleased with…
Incorporating good SWAG into the demo: our trinkets were earbuds, which aren’t the cheapest items to buy in bulk - especially since we made sure that they were decent ones, rather than cheating our booth visitors (and ourselves) with a lower quality version. People were more apt to take them, even if only to use the case for their fancy $100 earbuds at home (great! that’s where our logo is!). The earbuds were a trigger, to remember what it is that they saw at our booth. And we had far fewer cases of people walking up, avoiding eye contact, grabbing something off our counter, and walking away (the technical term for such individuals being “lookieloos”).
Less paperwork is more: each of our four products had a one sheet description, tailored to what kind of business the prospect is in. This means there is less for the booth staff to manage, less for the prospect to stuff in their bag, and less printing costs. I’m very happy with this direction/foundatino - but next year I think we can take it a little bit further with even less paper and more refined hand out options.
This week, my focus is on followup and careful analysis of our performance, presence, and the results. It’s not enough to just be there - CES may run over four days, but really maximizing those days requires a year long commitment.
