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So we had a big convention this weekend, in another city. I didn't leave for this convention until late Friday because the literature we needed was late in arriving from the printer. That was the beginning of so much crap. The guy finally arrived at half past 8, and then I had to drive to this other city, 4 hours away. Ugh. Didn't arrive until half after 12. Yuck. But my accommodations were nice, so that was a good thing.
The next morning I got to experience the streets of this lovely host town, which are notoriously bad. Thank g*d for
google maps because otherwise I would've been in the dark. But I say with some amount pf pride that I navigated the concrete waters rather well, so no big deal there. When I arrived at the convention we had to set up our booth and it was on. I also had my first taste of life outside of Vegas, where parking is free everywhere you go (except for valet, of course). Stupid urban core ... Anywho, the actual convention:
- I am not a sales guy by trade. I do internal accounts. I play with numbers, draft legal docs from time to time, look up arcane sections of corporate code when need be. I do not pitch the product. That's not my shtick, which sort of make the title of this blog a little bit of a misnomer. I do huck for us, just not to potential clients. My work is done in more dark & sinister ways ... But for two VERY LONG days I got to be a sales guy. Which, I discovered, I'm pretty good at. I can tell you whatever you need to know, even when you get into the hyper-technical shite that really has little to do with our particular company. But what pisses me off about this is that I made no money for all the hucking and baiting I did. The frickin' sales guys make commission, not me. That is pure shite. I hook the client, they reel 'em in & collect a commission. That's bull shite. Damn you, sales guys. Especially when people asked about FLPs & CRTs and you had no idea what either of these were. I stepped in and made the sale FOR YOU right there. Grrr ...
- People who want to make millions are an interesting lot. I don't know if it had to do with the denizens of this particular city, our super-cool booth or what, but we had some truly clueless folks wandering up and just throwing themselves into our midst. Not throwing cash at us, mind you, but just desperately seeking information and guidance. I saw the whole gamut. People with inheritances, looking to save on taxes; the start-up company guy who was just beginning to have some real capital to play with; completely clueless folks who just happened to have enough $ to pay to come to the convention. Final verdict: People are strange, everybody is looking to make a buck.
- There is a lot of money to be made telling people how to make money. What irony ...
The best part of this trip was the great Korean food I sampled. Yay for jah jung myun and kalbi! And kimchee. Good times.
On a side note, none of thr CSRs or Sales Guys are in the office this morning. Everyone is too tired. Considering they partied on the company dime for two nights (which led to a lot of heavy eyelids during the convention) I am not surprised. The Boss and #2 are still in LA, they stayed over a nite while everyone else travelled back. I was independent from the group the whole time, which I am VERY thankful for. Sometimes it pays to be prudent.