Losing my suitcase allowed me to truly represent my #NoExcuses brand

Hello again;

In my last post Losing Your Suitcase Is No Excuse For Not Showing Up I told you about how Amtrak had lost my new bag with all my stuff in it.

I also told you about how I was going to have a great time at MAPCON either way. I even said that I would go inspire the hell out of the audience even if I had to do it in my blue jeans and conference t-shirt.

Well, for those of you who know me you know I don’t say it unless it’s true or unless I actually intend to do it.

So, here is a little taste of what happened the rest of the weekend.

Friday

On Friday morning I attended a kind of school for podcasters. The goal was to help and encourage those who want to start a show or those who have a show but need to improve some aspect of it.

My Elevator Pitch

Joe, @superjoepardo asked me to say what I do and how.

I answered proudly that I book authors, coaches, speakers, and podcasters on radio shows and podcasts so they can share their stories, reach a wider audience, and build their brand.

I provide a great service, so why not be proud of it.

Then there was lunch where I had a great chicken ceizar salad and some even better conversations.

In the afternoon there were spotlight talks.

Playing Frisbee

In between Joe would have attendees introduce themselves. He chose them by tossing a cloth frisbee.

I jokingly told my neighbor that next time I wanted to put my hand up to see if Joe would throw it to me.

He wouldn’t, but he did let me try throwing it back to him.

I almost hit him too. 🙂

MAPCON Mixer

After the end of the first day of talks there was a mixer with music by Dj’s and an cash bar. But Joe decided to be nice and he provided tickets so many of us drank free.

I had a couple of beers and more wonderful conversations.

I didn’t dance or sing. I felt really special.

I never lacked for great people to talk with. When one person would leave someone else would sit down.

Saturday

Saturday morning I changed into a different t-sHirt but same old blue jeans.

Creative Podcast Competition

In the morning there was a create a podcast competition.

Teams of four were chosen and each group had to put on a brand new pretend podcast.

You had to come up with a title, show description, a logo, and an intro and outro.

You also had to use a list of five words in your show in some way.

I was surprised when our team of four was judged to have put on the best show.

Won A New Mic

Each of us won a new USB microphone I’m told it’s a really good entry level mic and sells for over $100.

I listened to all of the other shows, and I honestly thought the group who did a show called beer tent should have won.

In addition to meeting all the requirements they came up with and sang their own intro music.

Even though I’m not sure we were the best I’m keeping the prize.

I got the sense that people thought I was crazy for recording a podcast with the built in mic on my laptop.

I thought about giving it to my new friend Staci Greenberg @stacilgreenberg because she knew she wanted it. I wasn’t sure I could even use it.

Some tech may look simple but require you to see it in order to configure it or know if it’s working.

After talking to a couple people who knew more about this microphone than i did I decided to hold on to it.

In edition to the possibility that it might make my show better it will help with my goal of being completely free of my laptop by the end of the year.

I Almost Went Viral

My new friend Stacy asked me if there had been any news on my suitcase. I told her no.

She said I’m going to ask Joe to make an announcement. And off she went.

She spoke to a few other podcasters on the way to see Joe and told them about it too.

Before I knew it there was a hashtag on twitter and the whole MAPCON community was shaming Amtrak.

The hashtag was #FreeMax’sBag

My Talk

Before long it was my turn to speak. I got a little caught up in following along on twitter. I was a little off my rythem when I stood up to walk to the mic.

I went up and gave a pretty good talk on how to use podcasts and radio shows to grow your audience.

While sitting in my seat it seemed that the other people’s talks were just flying by.

Because of that I think I rushed my talk leaving me a lot of time to kill.

I finally decided to fill the rest of my time with q & a.

I didn’t feel like it was my best talk ever. I need to get better at judging time.

But when I sat down the guy next to me said great job. He said whenever you run short always go to questions.

The Idea That Resonated

I felt better later when I noticed how many people were tweeting one of the things I said in my talk.

It was “don’t wait until Yu think you are good enough to start reaching out to hosts to appear on their shows. there are too many amazing people with inspiring stories who aren’t sharing them. And we need them to share them.

I’m paraphraising, but that’s pretty close.

My Bag Is Freed

Later we would get the news that Amtrak had found my bag. There was applause. They felt like together as a group they had done something amazing for me.

And they did. I may not be famous, but in that room I know I was loved.

I did get my bag back, but Amtrak was much more difficult to deal with than any of us expected.

Amtrak Should Have Done Better

The way Amtrak responded is an example of how not to do it.

First, they instructed me to make a claim.

Karen Yankovich, @karenyankovich one of the ring leaders, pointed out to them that the idea that I hadn’t already filed a complaint after three days was just silly.

In fact the station manager took my report the night I got to Philadelphia.

Amtrak did finally decide to make a effort to find the bag. But when they found it they refused to deliver it. They insisted they couldn’t and wouldn’t do that.

I loved one follower on twitter who wrote they obviously don’t know who Max is and are just giving him the standard canned answers.

I got a big smile out of that one.

Amtrak Changed Their Mind

About 10:00 I got a call from the front desk saying my suitcase was in the lobby.

I went down there to find my bag but no Amtrak people.

They didn’t stay around to apologize, explain, or answer questions.

They didn’t even bring a camera to take photos of the happy ending.

I was shocked that after the stink we created that they would turn over the bag without requiring me or the hotel staff to sign for it. But they didn’t.

Celebrating My Wins

The week turned out to be a great one for me personally and for my usiness.

I gave a solid talk with one take away that resonated with many in the audience. By sharing that one idea I may have inspired someone to reach out to me or another podcast host and start sharing their story.

I met many podcasters, producers, radio network owners, and service providers. I started building many new friendships and relationships.

I will probably be speaking at two conferences next year because of my talk.

They would be the podfest Expo in Orlando in March and the fifth annual MAPCON in Philadelphia next fall.

I got to tell a lot of people about what I do and how I do it. And I believe I have at least one new client because of speaking at this event.

I have already started booking my clients on shows belonging to people I met there.

So many great things happened because I didn’t let the loss of some clothes keep me from having a great time.

I’m hoping this serves as an example to you.

We can let life’s setbacks crush us, or we can decide to enjoy the moment and do the best we can at the time.

Share Your Setbacks

I’m looking forward to hearing your stories of overcoming things that should have ruined your plans.

I also want to hear how you managed to stay positive and what steps you took to overcome the setback.

Until next time thanks, God bless you, and take care out there, Max