Reflections from the road: Life in the fast lane, but take time to create and connect
Hi everyone!
I’m writing to you back home in Boston after an exhilarating three weeks on the road, from Palo Alto to Wine Country to Houston to Miami, ending back in the Bay Area for the RSA Conference. As much as I love to travel, it’s always nice coming home to your own pillow, coffee, computer monitor, trusty road bike, and home cooking.
Back to the tour! The trip was all about helping clients host in-person and virtual events, with a little off-duty time sprinkled in at Formula 1 with the Folio Fine Wine team.
Several takeaways from the cross-country events and meetings:
Creativity is here!
From 6 liter bottles of unattainable (practically) old world reds to Kawasaki ATV rides to pettables puppies, creativity is back in the marketing mix. And I’m here for all of it!
Many 2024 RSA booths over delivered with creative booths appealing to emotion and levity–from the puppies to hot sugary donuts (careful, don’t burn your tongue!) to speakeasies serving up non-alcoholic drinks.
Beyond the cool booths, I saw most clients hosting their high-value meetings off-site at hotels and other private meeting areas. This is a welcomed evolution for CMOs, where booths are for brand awareness and company personality, but you enable your sales team to build and strengthen key relationships in more personal environments. And some clients opted for no booth altogether to save money and double down on swanky ancillary meetings and events.
In these more personal settings, always look for the unconventional angle, like blind tastings with a “unicorn” bourbon in the mix, wagyu beef, caviar, cigars and other surprising high-end delights.
Classic Cocktails with a Twist
We’ve had so much fun helping great clients come up with custom cocktails. The Synk Sour for example is a refreshing riff on a classic whiskey sour, where we’ve swapped in bourbon and added blackberries, fresh mint and edible flowers. Let our in-house master mixologists help curate your next in-person and/or virtual cocktail party! Plan your next event with purple cork.
“Relationships run the world”
If you’re a fellow fan of David Senra’s awesome podcast, Founders, you’ll often hear David saying, “Relationships run the world.” I wholeheartedly agree, and it’s even more apparent when you’re on the road meeting with customers, partners and purple cork teammates. People spend time with people they like, and people buy from people they trust. It’s a fulfilling and infectious energy!
Late to bed, early to rise
Most entrepreneur books tell you, early to bed wins. 100%, when you’re home and in your routine. When you’re on the road, take advantage and maximize time with key contacts–which means a lot of wining, dining, conversing and learning. Listen more than you speak. And have fun–it’s okay to have fun at work!
Fortunately though, I’m now back to “early to bed” for a few weeks which my immune system appreciates. And always trying for the 5 or 6 AM Club no matter what (for another post).
The Next Round
Next up, back to Palo Alto for another in-person event in a few weeks before a flurry of virtual events in June to help clients accelerate Q2 deals. June will be the highest event volume month at purple cork since last December, so it’s neat to see clients leaning on virtual when quarterly revenue targets are on the line.
Thank you for the continued support and trust.
See you soon online or IRL!
Kelly
Our very own Rosalie and Leevan shaking up the new custom Snyk Sour, designed by purple cork’s in-house mixology team:
…and some photos from the adventure
