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Well, this has never happened before.
Last night, as I was packing for my sixth and final city in the whirlwind "Master Class" two-day seminar tour, I got a call from Cristin Clifford, the director of meeting planning at Ragan. (Cristin and I started at Ragan on almost the same exact day, 15 years ago; she is the true power behind Ragan Communications, and the most efficient person I know).
"We had to shut the doors," she told me.
"Are you drunk again?" I said. "What are you talking about?"
"We had to close out the San Francisco seminar," she said. "We got the biggest room available, which holds 90 people. Registrations right now are at 90 people. We had to cut off registrations."
Well . . . 90 people is a whole hell of a lot of people. And I couldn't be happier. I love the bigger crowds, for three reasons:
1. There is always a lot more energy in the room.
2. There are more chances for people to network and meet other people in their industry.
3. The odds are dramatically in my favor that someone will sponsor rounds of drinks in the bar after Day One.
BUT . . . as much as I like it, I wanted to put a message out here, because I know many of the people who attend the seminar might read this blog. And I wanted to tell you that even though the seminar starts at 9, get there a tad bit early to get a good seat. Not early like 8:00 a.m., God forbid. But 8:40, maybe, or 8:45. There will be bagels in the room, and a Bloody Mary bar.
Just kidding about the Bloody Mary bar. Which is a damn shame.
And if you do read this blog and are coming to the seminar, make sure you come up and introduce yourself. Especially if you work for a big company and you are bringing your big expense account with you to San Francisco! I know exactly what to do with a big expense account.
As a side note to seminar attendees: Ragan is just about finished posting all the seminar materials on a protected section of the web site. You should soon get an e-mail linking you directly to the site---which will have everything we talked about over the two days. Thanks for your patience.
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Feels like Total Recall. Er, Philip K Dick?
Actually, with Steve's example it's a bit scary --- standing at the urinal...
Comments (7)
>>Just kidding about the Bloody Mary bar. Which is a damn shame.<<
Cheapskate! If I could figure out how to finesse a Bloody Mary/Screwdriver/Mimosa bar past the LexisNexis accounting police for my booth at IABC International conferences, you should be able to figure out a way to sneak this past Ragan, for cying out loud!
Otherwise, isn't it an affront to label this a "Master Class?!?"
Posted by Craig Jolley | November 30, 2005 8:45 AM
Posted on November 30, 2005 08:45
You're kidding, right? You're coming to SF and you didn't call?? Now I'll be depressed all day.
Posted by Shel Holtz | November 30, 2005 10:34 AM
Posted on November 30, 2005 10:34
Ummmmmmmm yeah....I'm pretty sure you just called me a drunk and old in the same posting, which apprarently equals "efficent" in your book Stever. Nice. I can't wait to show this to my parents. They'll be so proud. Good times.
Posted by Cristin Clifford | November 30, 2005 12:47 PM
Posted on November 30, 2005 12:47
Can one of you IT whizzes maybe crack the Ragan secret coder ring encrypted site so we can see what went on at the seminar??? For those of us who won't be in San Fran?
Posted by Kevin | November 30, 2005 2:11 PM
Posted on November 30, 2005 14:11
Steve...whenwhenwhen are you coming to Boston? You keep adding cities and none of them are near me. Off with your head.
Posted by Meredith | December 1, 2005 8:06 AM
Posted on December 1, 2005 08:06
Oh, Craig . . . remember that bottle of Dom Perignon that you bought us . . . drinking it in the Fairmont Hotel suite . . . oh . . .
Shel: There was no time!! It's been a whirlwind of activity! If you're not doing anything tonight, train in and have some drinks after the seminar! Jim Y. is coming in from Chicago, and I'm sure they'll be a good group of people from the seminar at the bar.
Cristin: Your parents already know how old you are!!! And they've known about your drinking problem since that time when you were a junior in high school and they found you passed out drunk and naked in the cat litter box with a half-eaten burrito on your belly.
Kevin! What happens in the seminar stays in the seminar. It's like Vegas, only without the gambling.
Meredith: I WANT TO COME TO BOSTON!!!! It's one of my favorite cities. I don't get to pick where they send me, unfortunately. Otherwise, we'd be doing this thing in Paris and Venice.
Steve C.
Posted by Steve C. | December 1, 2005 9:07 AM
Posted on December 1, 2005 09:07
>>Oh, Craig . . . remember that bottle of Dom Perignon that you bought us . . . drinking it in the Fairmont Hotel suite . . . oh . . .<<
Umm, yeah, that was the last time I thought it a good idea to spend $350 for some fermented grapes! The suite overlooking Lake Michigan made up for it though.
Posted by Craig Jolley | December 1, 2005 10:28 AM
Posted on December 1, 2005 10:28