The @GaryVee Experience With a Side of @NomX3
Last Friday night I attended the very special NomX3-GaryVee taping at The Estate in Boston. Prior to the event, my experiences with @GaryVee had been hot and cold. There were some days when his energy level on WineLibraryTV was nothing short of infectious; there were others when I was ready to throw my laptop out the window if I had to hear “hustle” one more time. Authenticity is a word that gets thrown around the social media universe quite a bit, and I wasn’t sure if Gary had it. I wanted to support my friends @MikeLangford & @JeffCutler so this was a great chance to go try to uncover the true @GaryVee. These were some of my observations from the evening:
- It didn’t take long for me to have my first brush with Gary since I walked in the door right behind him. He checked his coat ahead of me and bantered with a couple of the other guests, then when he turned around I introduced myself. As I later tweeted, it surprised me that he traveled solo. I was expecting some sort of entourage on hand to direct menacing stares at people who got too close, fetch drinks for him when he was thirsty, and emit that “the person I’m with is so important that he needs me to do what regular people do for themselves” vibe. Not seeing this presence immediately elevated his status in my eyes.
- My other thought as we shook hands: I hope this guy uses LOTS of hand sanitizer. Flu season is approaching and I can only imagine how many hands he’s going to shake during his book tour.
- The Estate’s dress code bans many items including flannel shirts. I’m guessing that L.L. Bean didn’t spend much time partying here during his younger years.
- Prior to the taping, Gary mingled with the crowd and welcomed conversation. This was a change from other events I’d attended where the keynote speakers preferred to spend their time “backstage” rather than engaging the audience.
- If Jeff was going for comedy with the wines he chose for the taping, he succeeded! I wish the vintner had been on hand to hear his or her creation compared to animal feces.
- Mike, Gary & Jeff had a nice stage chemistry. The conversation was easy with no awkward pauses. I was curious whether Mike & Jeff would be able to rein in Gary and keep to the standard format of their NomX3 show, but that proved to be no problem.
- Had Forrest Gump attended, he could have reused his description of the Vietnam protest emcee for Gary: “He liked to say the F-word, A LOT!”. I didn’t sense that he was forcing the adult language into his talk.
I won’t document what Gary had to say since you can watch it for yourself. Obviously he was there to promote his book and his belief that the Internet can be anyone’s pathway to the American dream. It’s hard to argue with his call for people who hate their jobs to pursue something that they’re passionate about. I’ll be curious to see how much substance there is behind that message as I read the book, but Friday night convinced me of one thing: @garyvee is real, and he’s not going to change whether you love him or hate him. I’ll take a genuine person who occasionally annoys me over someone who fakes it any day of the week.
Big thanks to @MikeLangford & @JeffCutler for organizing a great event. Be sure to watch NomX3 if you don’t already. It’s a fun show that doesn’t lack for strong opinions.
As always, we’d love to hear what YOU think! Please share your comments below. For another take on the event, check out Bobbie Carlton’s “Gary Vaynerchuk is Paris Hilton”.
Photo (CC) Randy Stewart, blog.stewtopia.com.
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