Does anyone in San Diego ever work?

Just got back from a speech in San Diego with my client, Remodelers Advantage. I spent the whole weekend there to soak up the sun and enjoy the scenery.

On Friday morning I took a barefoot walk down to the beach at about 8:00 AM. I saw people running, biking, wakeboarding, surfing and lounging. And my first thought was: does anyone in San Diego ever work?

By the time we made it out to La Jolla at 10, I knew the answer: heck no!

Would you work if this was your back yard?

(That’s why I’m never moving out here…unless I’m retired!)

I met lots of friendly people. Got a couple of “Hey Scott’s” on the beach, passed out plenty of nametags to inquiring strangers around town and even made a few new friends.

Unfortunately, some homeowners weren’t exactly “welcoming.”

All around town I noticed street promoters like my noodling friend over here. Funny story. I leaned out of the car window to take a picture, then the promoter’s friend shouted, “Wait, let me take a picture of you taking a picture of us!”

Good times.

As usual, we placed Scott’s Friend nametags on each of the 420 chairs. And it’s always fun to watch the interactions of tablemates when they sit down.

“Boy, Scott has a lot of friends!” was the most common response.

“Wait, don’t sit there – that seat is saved for Scott’s Friend!”

One lady even came up to me and joked, “So, do I have to be Scott’s Friend?”

“Uhh, not if you don’t want to,” I sniffed, “But I hear he’s a really cool guy!”

Needless to say, the audience was a lively bunch. I had a chance to get to know a lot of them in person, and let the truth be known: when it comes to remodeling, these guys were the cream of the crop!

I spent a few minutes in the beginning of the program illustrating a critical key of approachability: encounters that otherwise would not have existed. I offered the audience the Nametag Encounter Equation, which recently increased to 35,420.

We closed with an important discussion on consistency, referring both to Kevin Costner AND, ironically, a Business Week article I just happened to rip out the day before in the health club called If you build it, they might come.

Oh, and speaking of irony…

This is one of the slides I’ve been showing to my audiences for the past three years. It’s a picture of a beatiful front porch I found several years back on Google Images.

Funny story…

After the speech was over, Bruce Curtis from Woodrights came up to me and said, “Hey Scott, you know that front porch image you used in your presentation? I built it!”

“Get the hell outta here!”

“Oh yeah, it’s up in Lansing, Michigan. Worked on the project about 5-6 years ago. That front porch has won awards, been featured in magazines and everything!”

“Wow!” I said. “I feel like I owe you money or something.”

Instead we settled for a picture. (Thanks for not sueing Bruce!)

Hey, somebody’s gotta work around here.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What city would you never move to?

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
www.hellomynameisscott.com