Last week was a whirlwind of Skyping with folks who had responded to my request for collaborators interested in organizing seminars for me in their part of the world. When I first proposed the idea, I expected four or five people might respond.<\/p>\n
I underestimated. Five times that many people said, \u201cTell me more.\u201d My 2013 calendar began to fill up quickly.<\/p>\n
About the same time that this new project was being born, I received a request from a woman I didn\u2019t know. She wrote, \u201cI would love to share your book with our event guests this year at our New Year’s Eve Party. Would you be interested in sponsoring our event? We will be promoting to over 25,000 people and on top of that, 450 new people will be receiving your book and with the power of word-of-mouth advertising, it has the potential to reach 3 X more people with those efforts alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was puzzled and replied, \u201cFrankly, I am not at all clear about what you\u2019re proposing. Details, please.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her reply? \u201cI would love to share your book with our event guests this year at our New Year’s Eve Party. Would you be interested in sponsoring our event?\u201d<\/p>\n
Now I\u2019m really puzzled. Whose event is this? Who will be attending? What does sponsorship involve? Where are you located? Am I expected to donate 450 copies of my book? Pay for the champagne? Am I invited to the party?<\/p>\n
Even odder, it seemed to me, was the idea of giving New Year\u2019s Eve revelers a copy of Making a Living Without a Job<\/em><\/strong>. Obviously, I was missing some vital information.<\/p>\n I reread the initial message, but no fresh clues had appeared.<\/p>\n Then a terse message arrived asking if I wanted to promote my book. I replied, \u201cI am still not clear about what the New Year’s Eve event entails nor what your expectations are for me. Intuitively, however, it doesn’t feel like a fit.\u201d<\/p>\n So imagine my surprise when she promptly replied, \u201cGood to know! I also feel that your priorities and attention span is far from looking into any new opportunities, so I wish you success and thank you for skimming my messages.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m still not sure if this is an example of miscommunication or incredibly rude behavior.<\/p>\n I do know, however, that I\u2019ll be welcoming the New Year celebrating my upcoming partnerships with the very kind and innovative folks who are busily making The Collaboratory a success.<\/p>\n I am totally clear about that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week was a whirlwind of Skyping with folks who had responded to my request for collaborators interested in organizing seminars for me in their part of the world. When I first proposed the idea, I expected four or five people might respond. I underestimated. Five times that many people said, \u201cTell me more.\u201d My…<\/p>\n