Photo-A-Day #1685
Tonight I drove down to Madison, CT to R.J. Julia Booksellers to see Gary Vaynerchuk talk about his book Crush It. I also picked up a few copies to get signed. And because I have Crush It on my Kindle I decided to see if he would sign that too.
When I arrived at R.J. Julia I walked to the back to get my ticket and when I came into the area where Gary would be speaking I met Jon Thomas who commented that he liked my Belt Buckle. Allison got me an Autobot Symbol Belt Buckle for our anniversary and I figured I’d wear it tonight. Jon was the first person in the place and we chatted for a bit, exchanged cards and talked about how we were familiar with Gary and why we were each here. Come to find out we had some small world coincidences like his sister going to Saint A’s while I was a residence hall director there and also he going to Fairfield and me working at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield (okay that was a stretch). Jon is Director of Simplicity at PresentationAdvisors.com.
While we were waiting for the night to kick off with Gary I was tweeting and I guess Gary passed one of my tweets along to his twitter stream and he even started following ME. I kept the twitter e-mail confirmation :-). Yes, I am that much of a geek.
When Gary took the stage one of the first things he said was that he was not motivated so much by his humble roots but rather completely driven by gratitude. I immediately thought of Ed Gerety. For me Ed is the man when it comes to Gratitude. His book Combinations has an entire chapter devoted to it. Ed doesn’t just write about Gratitude he lives it. So when I had my books signed I told Gary about Ed and Ed’s book Combinations. I also tweeted out this video and this tweet.
Ed was on my mind today because I have been working for him in the capacity of a web and social media guy. I uploaded a video of Ed to Youtube, Vimeo and Viddler today. This is Ed’s newest Demo reel and it gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. Ed is a man who lives his passion and it comes through in the things he does and says. You have to watch this video.
Gary’s talk was a very good one and through it I was energized and excited for what I have in store for everyone including myself. I’ve got so many ideas that I am ready to start implementing and I cannot wait to share them with you. If you don’t have a copy of Crush It yet I recommend that you go and purchase one, if not through my Amazon affiliate links here then at your local bookstore. It is a good book that is highly motivational, not fluff, no crap just some bare bones down and dirty good advice.
After Gary was done I got in line with Jon to have our books signed and I. I asked Jon if he would like me to get his photo with Gary and if he would take one of me with Gary. Here are the photos.
Me With Gary Vaynerchuk
Jon Thomas with Gary Vaynerchuk
Talking with Gary was fun. I reminded him that we met at Affiliate Summit East and it was nice to see him again. Gary mentioned that he liked my belt buckle too. It is fun when a child of the 80’s gets the same stuff that you get. I think that is what originally kept me watching was that Gary had He-man figures on his desk and that he was an 80’s child too, only a might younger than me so we were at the same age nearly when the same shows were on TV. Gary signed my books and posed for a picture with me and also he did sign my Kindle. That was cool. I guess I wasn’t the first who thought of that though.
Here is the full event. In front of me PJ Conley had a Motorola Droid and he filmed the whole thing and posted to Qik.
Here are the rest of the photos I took tonight.
I drove home from that event very pumped up. Oh and While I was there I did get a very special book signed. I got one for one of my lucky readers. That is right, It could be You who wins this book. I’m going to give this book to the person who can tell me how they intend to Crush It in 2010. Tell me your hopes, dreams and plans for the upcoming year. If I like yours the best, guess what, this signed copy of Crush it will be yours.
That’s great that he signed your Kindle. I had Tweeted that as a joke when I bought the Kindle version of Crush It!, but I didn’t really think he’d do it.
Now, I need to go find out when he’ll be appearing near me…. 🙂
http://crushitbook.com/crush-it-book-tour/
.-= Look at what Tim Jones wrote blog ..Morning Coach Blogger and Rate Code =-.
Tim,
For the hell of it I said on the Facebook page that I hoped he would sign it. I felt a little bad having a Kindle in an independent Bookstore but I bought 3 copies of Crush It so I felt less bad. When I asked him if he would sign it he said that he’s been doing quite a few of them. I thought I was being original.
Hi, this is Ann Nyberg…I just sent this blog post to RJ Julia and told them they need to post it…you should start writing for them as a kindle user…you can have both in this world, books and kindle…if everybody works together everbody wins.
Your site is fabulous.
Ann
Ann,
Thank you so very much for the kind words about my blog and also for passing my post along to R.J. Julia. That is a wonderful bookstore. I really felt comfortable there and wish I could have come sooner and stayed later.
I liked your questions and I hope that you were able to get your interview with Gary. If it is online please let me know and post the link here in a comment. I would love to see it.
A kindle user writing posts for an independent bookstore… interesting. Would love to hear more about how everyone wins in that scenario.
Drew…I’m serious…call them up.
Thanks Ann,
Unfortunately books are not really my passion (although I love children’s book and have a blog just for kid’s book reviews). Photography is my thing and I have quite the full set of hands for the coming year. I do still like the concept of a Kindle reviewer on a Physical bookstore site though.
So glad you got to meet Gary Vee- we have yet to be at the same show at the same time, but hopefully one day soon we’ll meet in person. So nice of you to be giving a signed copy to your readers, too. I know of some very big Gary Vee fans I’ll be sending your way.
Dina,
Not so rub it in (but I will after that BennySparkles comment) this was actually my second time meeting Gary Vee. But I’ll let that slide since you are sending fans of his my way for the book contest. Ill be doing a little more about the book and the contest soon. Hopefully you will get to meet him soon.
Oh that’s right! I (Freudian?) forgot that you met him at ASE. Let’s just pretend that 1+1 = 1 though.
Dina,
I know you are still a bit jealous over that. I’ll let it go. 🙂
That’s a really great book. Gary “Cruses It” with his second book! Yeah…I said it.
Seriously though, I highly recommend this book.
.-= Look at what Damien Franco wrote blog ..Wordless Wednesday: dusk reflections =-.
Damien,
I agree that it is a good recommendation for people to read this book. He revealed that a title he was working with had something to do with Tag Team Champions, his WWF roots showing.
Hi Drew,
Thank you for posting your review. I am happy that you had such a good experience here. Please come again.
Heather McDonald
Events Coordinator
R.J. Julia Booksellers
Heather,
You are welcome. It is what I do. I write about the things I do. I had a very nice time at the Book Signing. I love the store too.
Wow, Drew! I can see now why you love to hear these guys talk! Very passionate. Gratitude does make the the spark that is need to move mountains. Thanks so much for showing these.
.-= Look at what Deborah wrote blog ..Welcome to FeedBurner =-.
Deborah,
You are welcome. I like to get people connected with other people and so talking about the people who inspire me is second nature.
Drew I have seen it advertised everywhere and not yet read Crush It. What was your best takeaway from it?
.-= Look at what Murray wrote blog ..Mobile blog readers ignore them at your peril =-.
Not that it was my personal best take-away from it (mine would just be the motivation factor that Gary brings to the book — HUGE) — but the best take-away in my opinion was the step-by-step process by which to build your personal brand that Gary included in the back of the book. This lays it right out for anyone trying to get started building a brand, online.
.-= Look at what Tim Jones wrote blog ..Morning Coach Blogger and Rate Code =-.
Tim,
I agree that the motivation factor is huge. I do like the process that Gary lays out but I also clipped another great take away.
“How do you know you’ve built a community? When one person is listening.”
Murray,
The great thing about the Kindle is the ability to create clippings. I decided that I liked two of them.
“Before you invest in yourself, you have to invest in your long-term future. That means your profits should funnel right back into your research, your content, and your staff should you have any. The sooner you start cashing in, the shorter window you have in which to cement your success. So hold off as long as you can.”
The second would be something that I live by and have done so since way before I heard of Gary Vaynerchuk…
“If someone takes the time to reach out to you, it’s your obligation to reciprocate.”
To me that is answering ever e-mail, comment and blog post that mentions BenSpark.com.
How am I going to “Crush It” in 2010:
Here’s my to-do list
1) Find a job (hopefully before 2010)
2) Become a better blogger. I am in the middle of a redesign. I also am going to get back into blogging everyday. You also have inspired me to do a picture a day but haven’t 100% committed to it. While finding a job
3) Find a job
4) Start attending church regularly while finding a job
5) Find a job
6) Try to stay more positive while finding a job
7) Find a job
8) Read Crush It while finding a job
9) Find a Job
10) I am not sure if I have mentioned this but I am looking for a job!
Okay all kidding aside. I know that read like a New Year’s resolution list but it is what I have in mind. Besides finding, well you know, I have a couple projects in the works. I would love to start podcasting which is something I have never done before.
Fingers crossed I win
Buck,
Those sound like great ways to Crush It! As for the podcasting thing lets talk this weekend and maybe do our first show. We’ve got a basic framework in place so why not bang one out.
Drew! This is a wonderful post! I feel like I was there now too. I love independent bookstores – I would have been there for hours. Gary V is the man! As are Y-O-U!
Kim,
It was a great time and I am glad that my post made you feel like you were there. Not as good as if you were really there because that would have been very cool. I’m looking forward to the next event where I can catch up with you again.
Hi,
I am Tshering, a member of your community and How I’m gonna crush in 2010 is
– Learn Animation
– Be an animator
– Find a job
– May be make my own animated movie
– Be famous
– Keep on dreaming
– Study, try to study
That’s all and if you’re really sending the book, then, how will I get it?
Well, your blog is good, even though, I don’t understand your talks, wholly!
Cheers
Hi Tshering,
Nice list of things for 2010. Good luck achieving all of them. Glad you like my blog.
I have seen Gary speak on a few occasions… his energy is infectious. He will be at one of our marketing exec meetings coming up very soon. I wrote about his inspiration for small and mid-sized businessed in my blog think-ebiz: http://bit.ly/6AnEx3 Crush-It! Gary Vay*Ner*Chuk’s Social Marketing Motivation Book
.-= Look at what stephen wrote blog ..Crush-It: Gary Vay*Ner*Chuk’s Social Marketing Motivation Book =-.
Stephen,
I’ve seen Gary speak this one time but I had met him before over at affiliate summit in New York. I hope your meeting is a great one, no doubt it will be.