Strike Out

I’m getting closer to starting my first Drink•Eat•Walk tours, so am furiously working on my stories, website, and messaging. I’m also starting to talk in more detail about the tours when I’m out in the world with people.

One surprising thing I’ve learned is that not everybody knows what a food tour is. They’ve been popular in the US and around the world for many years, but you can’t really get angry with someone for not knowing something. So I’m updating my site to make sure I’m including messaging that assumes people don’t all have Food Tours 101-type knowledge.

The ultimate challenge, though, is when I’m talking to someone who doesn’t know what a food tour is, doesn’t know about Drink•Eat•Walk (I mean, why would they), and doesn’t even know me. So I have to quickly establish credibility, teach them, and sell the idea, all without confusing them or boring their skull. What, am I in sales/business development now? (um, yes, you dolt)

I met a seemingly-very-important-person the other evening at a baseball game, and he was really my first at-bat for this triple pitch. And oh how I struck out/popped up/ground out. This baseball metaphor has gone foul, and so did I — my performance was terrible.

When I’ve had real jobs, I’ve never had a problem trying to convince folks I’m legit, and a lot of what I’ve done in the past is teach & train folks on stuff. But holy word-salad was I awful at explaining what D•E•W was all about. Sure, some of it was because I had to combine all the things, but it was clear I am woefully under-prepared to sell my idea & tours, let alone lead them.

Anway, all good, but just another reminder that time spent researching & writing about stuff ≠ being able to coherently talk about it out loud IRL to other people. Honestly, I’m glad I realized it now, as I have time to practice, practice, practice before starting the tours in June.

So, if you see me over the next couple of months walking around DC (or, Europe) holding an iPad and talking to myself, don’t worry: That’s just me in the bullpen warming up my pitching.