I learned something about Seattleites this week.
They don't like to RSVP.
When I had only heard from one person prior to the scheduled FOJ dinner, despite a few emails, I figured I'd cancel it and just get together with the 1 Yes response.
There's an adage in sales, "take it away" about offers you put in front of customers. If you make people feel like they "can't get it," there's a higher chance that they will want it.
Apparently, Seattleites feel the same way.
After I cancelled, 3 people said, "hey I am coming..." and they did....and we had a great time.
Afterwards, on the sound advice from Nelson Taggart (those words always seem to go together), he suggested I contact the one couple who had not bothered to respond to my emails at all.
The advice was this:
Diplomatically, but candidly, ask, "would you prefer if I stop trying to contact you?"
I did that.
The response was: "we received the emails, but we just had a baby 2 weeks ago."
On the surface, I was sympathetic, I know how things are crazy. But on the other hand, how long does it take to write, "sorry, we can't make it, we just had a baby." (It actually takes 3 seconds, since I just wrote it.)
But that's a minor sidenote to what was a great evening. The connections were numerous and intricate.
Nelson's wife and Joanna Sandorffy went to school together. Allison Crites went to elementary school with Aaron Sandorffy.
Great food at the Teapot Vegetarian House (endorsed by my mainland Chinese colleague) and a fun evening.
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