You've seen the pics...
now here's the story...
this years conference was probably the turning point of my career at WSI...
I got called out in general assembly (approx. 1150 WSI employees) by the Chief Marketing Officier. y'see, this year he was in the show for the first time. I had him doing "I Love rock and roll" by Joan Jett and the Black Hearts. he worked really hard to be really mediocre, but he put his whole heart and soul into it. i went up to him backstage just before his number and said, "Now, you're gonna rock this, right?" and went to do the old "high 5"... he grabbed my hand and pulled me in and said, "I'm doing this for you, mike".
"Pat! don't do it for me. you're doing it for the GMs!" I was in High Cheer Leader Mode at the time.
"No. I'm doing it for you because you've worked so hard."
"Thanks Pat. Knock 'em dead." gulp.
I went on to the next uber exec who was freaking out...
Well, the show was a hit. It's never as good as I want it to be, but it's always better than anyone expects. I guess I just have a higher, truer theater standard. i worked it out so that the CEO did a number followed by the CMO (Pat), followed by the Chairman of the Board and ending with an "Ode" to the 90 year old founder, Chuck. The final number had everyone in tears as they brought Chuck on stage to sing to him a version of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" that I had re-written to be "You Believed We Could Fly". Very manipulative, I admit, but whatever. it worked.
so at General asssembly the next day, Pat was giving his much anticipated speech... he's a great speaker. Everyone always looks forward to his presentations at the conference. anyhow, he's giving his speech and he starts talking about the show. then he tells the tech people to "run the footage" and he shows clips of all the execs' numbers. I was thrilled to have him just mention the show, but even more amazed that he had footage to show the entire general asssembly. Next thing you know, I hear him saying my name... "Where's Mike M?". I gasped outloud and grabbed Will's leg (he was sitting next to me). Ohmygod. ohmygod. ohmygod. I raised my hand. I was sitting in the back near the engineers table and i could hear the stage manager saying, "We've got him! He's in Quadrant 4 at the end of the row. white shirt. black hair. he's got his hand up. Jerry? you got him. great." My face appears on the giant screen on either side of the mainstage. "Geez. My hair is HUGE" I thought as i slowly stood up.
Pat went on to say some really nice things about me as I stood and tried desperately to hold my composure (i don't know if it was because I was so exhausted or what, but I was super emotional) then he said, "I was in my bathroom every night since I got here working on my song. I sang it over and over, practicing the moves Mike taught me. I did it because I didn't want to let Mike down." That was it. I started to lose it. Thankfully my image disappeared from the screen at the moment to be replaced by an image of Pat standing onstage. He ended by saying that I was an "outstanding example of great leadership skills'. at that point - to my great shock and amazement - the entire place stood up and applauded for me. I got my first Standing O at a freakin' conference in Arizona. Never got one for dancing my ass off all those years. I end up getting one for putting on a show with a bunch of retail corporate employees. who knew?
For the rest of the conference, i was treated like a freakin' rockstar. It was truly surreal. People I didn't know came up to me to congratulate me, shake my hand, and - get this - to have their picture taken with me. Chuck Williams walked across the crowded hotel lobby to shake my hand and thank me. Totally weird.
I had the strangest reaction to this experience... I got really weirded out about being alone. Totally paranoid. I didn't want to be alone when some stranger came up to me to say congratulations. I don't know why. I got panicky if I was standing by myself and someone approached me. I blushed. I actually blushed. I never do that. But for some reason I spent the rest of the time in Arizona beet red.
One more thing... the CEO showed up for rehersals and pulled me aside to show me the outfit he had brought to wear. Cowboy boots, a groovy t-shirt, a studded belt with a GIANT buckle and a pair of the most beautiful jeans i have ever seen. Gorgeous wash, amazing details, cool flap pockets, and a big TRUE RELIGION patch on the back waistband. True Religion. Geez. I was looking at a pair of $300 jeans. 'Must be nice' I thought to myself.
So anyhow, like i said, the show was a hit and my SVP was pleased as could be. She pulled me up onstage after the show, handed me a gorgeous bouquet of roses and said nice things. Really great. Then, the next day, she tells me to meet her at the break... she takes me outside and points to a car and driver. She tells me that the driver will be taking me to Neiman Marcus at the Scottsdale Galleria where I'll be met by a personal shopper who will take me to pick out the "most expensive" pair of True Religion jeans. Kee-rist! So an hour later, i'm rolling back to the resort in a chaufer driven car with a pair of $300 jeans. I was in hog heaven.
All in all, I had a pretty good time in Arizona this year.
this years conference was probably the turning point of my career at WSI...
I got called out in general assembly (approx. 1150 WSI employees) by the Chief Marketing Officier. y'see, this year he was in the show for the first time. I had him doing "I Love rock and roll" by Joan Jett and the Black Hearts. he worked really hard to be really mediocre, but he put his whole heart and soul into it. i went up to him backstage just before his number and said, "Now, you're gonna rock this, right?" and went to do the old "high 5"... he grabbed my hand and pulled me in and said, "I'm doing this for you, mike".
"Pat! don't do it for me. you're doing it for the GMs!" I was in High Cheer Leader Mode at the time.
"No. I'm doing it for you because you've worked so hard."
"Thanks Pat. Knock 'em dead." gulp.
I went on to the next uber exec who was freaking out...
Well, the show was a hit. It's never as good as I want it to be, but it's always better than anyone expects. I guess I just have a higher, truer theater standard. i worked it out so that the CEO did a number followed by the CMO (Pat), followed by the Chairman of the Board and ending with an "Ode" to the 90 year old founder, Chuck. The final number had everyone in tears as they brought Chuck on stage to sing to him a version of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" that I had re-written to be "You Believed We Could Fly". Very manipulative, I admit, but whatever. it worked.
so at General asssembly the next day, Pat was giving his much anticipated speech... he's a great speaker. Everyone always looks forward to his presentations at the conference. anyhow, he's giving his speech and he starts talking about the show. then he tells the tech people to "run the footage" and he shows clips of all the execs' numbers. I was thrilled to have him just mention the show, but even more amazed that he had footage to show the entire general asssembly. Next thing you know, I hear him saying my name... "Where's Mike M?". I gasped outloud and grabbed Will's leg (he was sitting next to me). Ohmygod. ohmygod. ohmygod. I raised my hand. I was sitting in the back near the engineers table and i could hear the stage manager saying, "We've got him! He's in Quadrant 4 at the end of the row. white shirt. black hair. he's got his hand up. Jerry? you got him. great." My face appears on the giant screen on either side of the mainstage. "Geez. My hair is HUGE" I thought as i slowly stood up.
Pat went on to say some really nice things about me as I stood and tried desperately to hold my composure (i don't know if it was because I was so exhausted or what, but I was super emotional) then he said, "I was in my bathroom every night since I got here working on my song. I sang it over and over, practicing the moves Mike taught me. I did it because I didn't want to let Mike down." That was it. I started to lose it. Thankfully my image disappeared from the screen at the moment to be replaced by an image of Pat standing onstage. He ended by saying that I was an "outstanding example of great leadership skills'. at that point - to my great shock and amazement - the entire place stood up and applauded for me. I got my first Standing O at a freakin' conference in Arizona. Never got one for dancing my ass off all those years. I end up getting one for putting on a show with a bunch of retail corporate employees. who knew?
For the rest of the conference, i was treated like a freakin' rockstar. It was truly surreal. People I didn't know came up to me to congratulate me, shake my hand, and - get this - to have their picture taken with me. Chuck Williams walked across the crowded hotel lobby to shake my hand and thank me. Totally weird.
I had the strangest reaction to this experience... I got really weirded out about being alone. Totally paranoid. I didn't want to be alone when some stranger came up to me to say congratulations. I don't know why. I got panicky if I was standing by myself and someone approached me. I blushed. I actually blushed. I never do that. But for some reason I spent the rest of the time in Arizona beet red.
One more thing... the CEO showed up for rehersals and pulled me aside to show me the outfit he had brought to wear. Cowboy boots, a groovy t-shirt, a studded belt with a GIANT buckle and a pair of the most beautiful jeans i have ever seen. Gorgeous wash, amazing details, cool flap pockets, and a big TRUE RELIGION patch on the back waistband. True Religion. Geez. I was looking at a pair of $300 jeans. 'Must be nice' I thought to myself.
So anyhow, like i said, the show was a hit and my SVP was pleased as could be. She pulled me up onstage after the show, handed me a gorgeous bouquet of roses and said nice things. Really great. Then, the next day, she tells me to meet her at the break... she takes me outside and points to a car and driver. She tells me that the driver will be taking me to Neiman Marcus at the Scottsdale Galleria where I'll be met by a personal shopper who will take me to pick out the "most expensive" pair of True Religion jeans. Kee-rist! So an hour later, i'm rolling back to the resort in a chaufer driven car with a pair of $300 jeans. I was in hog heaven.
All in all, I had a pretty good time in Arizona this year.
posted by Shuboy at 10:23 PM
3 Comments:
Fun pix!! Congrats on your mighty coup (and the jeans, of course)!
Congratulations on a job well done!!! So proud of you. Mwa.
Leng
Thank you, thank you, thank you two!!!!!!!
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