Today’s message is a message based on a true story. It contains an important reminder for all of you.
A particular industry conference was on my calendar for over a month. I knew as a professional speaker that good things result from my wandering trade show aisles. This alone serves as a walking example that “Marchev is alive and well.” I would not be attending this show as a conference speaker, but as a paid attendee. Yes, I was going to The Big Show. It happened to be Clia3sixty … two years ago.
For those of you who know me, you appreciate that one of my favorite reminders involves “visibility.” Getting out where the action is happens to be one of my favorite, dog-eared reminders. Hence, I was heading to the Trade Show Floor on this Friday afternoon … until …..
My computer crashed on Friday morning. Very few things, other than a surly postal clerk, can hit my hot- button as effectively as a crashed computer. Yes, even I have a dark side. As noon approached I made the conscious decision to stay back at the fort to “fix” my bag of bolts.
And that is when it hit me. As if I entered a scene from Ron Serling’s Twilight Zone, I heard me talking to me. “Hey Bub! What possible good, as it relates to your eating habits can happen lying under your computer desk casting dispersions at no one in particular vs positioning yourself down on the active trade show floor?”
I wanted to fix my computer. But I knew the right answer. I showered. I dressed. I drove. I entered the exhibit area. I walked. I talked. I smiled.
I won’t bore you with the specifics, but as soon as I turned corner #1, it began to happen. I bumped into former clients asking if I would contact them. Friends from past seminars stopped me to chat, and pump my ego. Cruise line contacts acknowledged my presence and were reminded that “Marchev” is still available when the need surfaces. Magazine editors asked that I contact them. It was as if a chain reaction of positive vibes kicked-in as soon as my feet hit the carpet.
I could feel the smile, the bounce in my step, the positive energy flowing through me knowing that I was exactly where I was suppose to be on this particular Friday afternoon. I was working. I was marketing. I was having FUN. My computer could wait.
And why, you may ask, am I sharing this epiphany with you? As some sleuth once said, “Elementary my dear Watson.”
Ever since I entered the game of business back in 1973, I have an unblemished track record of achieving good and positive results every single time I attend a trade show, conference, or large group gathering.
My decision to get out of the office has never failed me. I attend. I watch. I listen. I think. I grow. I establish new contacts. I rekindle old contacts. I become energized. I benefit. My family benefits.
Never. Not once. Has this failed to be the case.
On that Friday, I made the initial decision NOT to attend the conference. As smart as I profess to be, I still almost made this mistake. I would not have realized it at the time, but this would have proved to be an enormous judgment error. As long as you don’t walk around with a bag on your head, good things come from these events. Lots of good things.
Another one of these “opportunities” is coming at us thanks to CLIA’s annual conference. This one is being held Ft. Lauderdale. Not a bad place, in and of itself, to hang out for a few days.
It was Louis Pasteur who reminded us that “Chance Favors The Prepared Mind.” It was an NFL football player (Merlin Olsen) who said, “If I am not practicing and my competition is, when we meet, they will beat me.” It was Mike Marchev who said, “Get up. Get out. And make more people glad they know you.”