The Travel Trick I Share with ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen
Last week, I was in Washington D.C. for a family event. Dave and I were tempted to make it a day-only affair, arriving and departing in the same day. Yet for some reason, I stopped myself to question the feeling that I was “too busy” (Julie, shame on you!) to make more time for the city. Instead, I persuaded myself to bring back an old travel trick that I hadn’t used in some time. And I share it with ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen.
When I worked for a large company, I did something smart when I traveled for fun. Yet I wasn’t trying to be smart. I was trying to be efficient… with a dash of social.
During my time in Boston (#backbaygoggles), I was on the go as much as possible. I’d jet around the U.S. and over to Europe to see friends whenever I had an excuse to do so. To save on airfare, maximize time with friends, and minimize PTO days, I’d fly out early on Thursday morning and arrive at my destination in time to have two full days of work in a new locale.
But here was my secret: instead of hunkering down in a coffee shop to plow through computer work, I’d pre-arrange lunch dates with colleagues I didn’t know so well, meetings with brokers, and sit in the local team’s office. This gave me an excuse to create brand new relationships with second or third degree connections. People met with me simply because I was going to be in their city for only two days.
Believe it or not, these somewhat random meetings from years ago are still paying off today. One relevant example: I met a then-stranger colleague in Chicago years ago. We’ve lightly kept in touch since, and we now both coincidentally live in Nashville. And she recently called me a about a new business opportunity – six years, two countries, and three jobs later!
I thought that this travel hack was me just being my (sometimes weirdly) social self… until I heard ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen describe how he did the same thing to pitch ESPN to cable networks. This was before ESPN was as we know it today, and he was just a guy who was “going to be in Denver for two days,” wanting to meet the head of ten large cable operators. If you want to hear more, check out his interview with Tim Ferriss; this mention is around minute 46.
Admittedly, over the past few years I’ve gotten complacent in my travel and cared more about getting in and out than putting in extra professional effort. But this time, I decided to dust off the old practice that served me so well years ago.
So while I was in D.C., I met up with a Career Contessa mentee, as well as Emily Katz, who’s an image consultant to the east coast business elite and a master make-up artist to Hollywood stars. I’m so glad that I did!
These IRL meetings took online connections offline and gave me an excuse to connect. Would the impressive Emily have accepted a meeting from me at random if I lived in D.C.? Maybe. Only because she’s very generous. But I wouldn’t have been brave enough to ask in the first place. This extra effort of setting up the meetings put a spring in my step and structure in my Thursday. Also, I’m quite sure that there will be reciprocal business opportunities in the future.
I’m curious: do you do anything like this too? Do you have examples of business that arose because you went out of your way while you were traveling for fun? Things like this always awe me, as I see them as perfect examples of opportunity meeting preparation…
P.S. We also saw old friends and walked by the White House, much to Dave’s chagrin 😉
