To be you, or not to be you – that is the rhetorical question

So, I feel like I need to throw something out there to you, Loyal Reader….

We just returned from Simon Leung’s kickass Adword’s workshop in sunny San Jose, CA where we got to talk about Hybrid Marketing to an incredible crowd. Good times…

Side note: Love all the traveling – seeing parts of this fabulous country that all should enjoy. You really do get what you ask for and Bring More Of It On!

Anyway – back on topic…

When we get back from these awesome travels, we thankfully have piles of mail to sort through. (In direct mail, it is BAD to not be getting stuff in the mailbox J)

In these piles of mail we can find requests for more information, orders (happy dance) or general correspondences. The “general correspondence” pile is the most interesting of all.

We get everything from testimonials, to letters of well wishing, to tales of woe about disease and misfortune, to the rantings of deranged fellow Americans.

It never ceases to amaze me, the things that people will take the time to write out (many times in long hand); thoughts, opinions or them talking to or about themselves. Often times in very, um, shall we saw colorful fashion?

It’s one of these “general correspondences” that I would like to take a few minutes of your valuable time to address.

I found this letter in the pile. It quickly stood out. Nice, crisp white envelope. Incredibly even and centered penned addresses. Upon opening the envelope, I found a very nice two paged typed letter on high stock paper.

First glance indicated that this letter was sent by a very intelligent person and let me say, that I was not let down.

To my delight, what I found was a very eloquently written letter addressing how the gentleperson thought our recent hybrid marketing workshop in Flint MI was very well done, giving everything to the attendees that they could expect (and much, much more).

This gentleperson found that the caliber of our event had far surpassed many others that he had attended, even seminars hosted by “the masters” (whatever that means).

In paraphrasing his words, not only did we deliver on all of our promises of HUGE content at our Hybrid Marketing workshop, we brought in a wide variety of guest speakers that nicely rounded out the content AND the attendees were not “pitched to the entire time” (as promised).

Heck, this writer even had a FUN time during and after the event AND made some very exciting new contacts while attending our workshop.

All that glowing testimony aside, the letter’s real intent was surprisingly to address this gentleperson’s opinion that many of the speakers (including ourselves) were doing a gross disservice to ourselves by not dressing and acting (in his opinion) in a manner that was equal to our vast knowledge and expertise.

Now, I ask you, Loyal Reader…

If this gentleperson’s expectations for the event were well surpassed, why did he give a ratt’s ass what we were wearing?

Not that this matters at all, but this wasn’t exactly the first time that this gentleperson had met us…we have been working together for quite some time and should have come to understand what to expect from our “persona”.

With all the gratitude and respect I can muster, I do appreciate this gentleperson’s opinion – but COME ON!

• Great content
• Awesome speakers
• New Contacts
• AND TONS of FUN?

Whatever….

All I can say is that we are who we are. Lee and his flip flop wearing rocker gear and me in my sassy arm candy ensemble, typically singing into the microphone during breaks.

Hey, it works for us.

This is who we are on and off the stage. Dressing like rock stars makes us feel like we are accurately representing who we are and that only makes our content better and presented in a vastly more comfortable and enjoyable fashion.

I only hope that this gentleperson will take all of the great knowledge that he acquired at our awesome 2 day workshop and makes the most out of all his future endeavors.

Heck, maybe he’ll even buy a pair of flip flops. 🙂