Last issue I told you I'd just gotten back from Mykonos, that it was a reminder of how much is still out there to go get, and that I'd go deeper on it. This is that. And honestly it's about damn time I wrote about it.
Quick context if you're newer here.
Geekout events is my first event business, and the audience has been a mixture of affiliates, brands, lead generation, telemedicine, mar-tech, investors, hold co’s… we’ve been coming together for the last 8-9 years to talk about what's happening in this industry and sharing information like this is something that's very, VERY important for me and to all of us that help run it.
We do anywhere between 3 to 6 events a year with 120-400 people at each one. Sponsors, attendees, teams. But we can only do this one (Mykonos) once a year, so everything leads up to it.
But why Mykonos, in July?
It’s by design, it acts as a sift for the people that REALLY want to be there.
If you have the money
If you have the time
If you have the ability to get there
You're going to get there.
For me, the trip itself was 5 days. Flew in early to get a little bit of alone time with the wifey, do the event, one more day at the end of it for alone time with the wifey again, and then the fly day back. It is the one I look forward to every single year.
And this event has been instrumental in developing the network and providing opportunities to a lot of people who have never been able to get their name on a stage or have a voice heard.
I take a lot of pride in diversifying and uncovering new talent, especially those who care to document what they're doing to bring others along. I think it's a very selfless thing to do.
And what I love is the reality check that it provides me. I believe I'm doing pretty big numbers, or working with pretty big teams. Then I get in this room, and I meet a crazy mixture of worldly winners like, these two guys from Lithuania..a country where, if you ask any general person, they have no idea where the f*ck it is on a map.
Culturally relevant, respectful people, absolute hustlers and grinders. They've got this weird mixture where the taste, brand side and performance side all live in the same head. (They will put away $10mm this year net)
Then this new beautiful mix of people who do many things, agency, brand, telemedicine and just things that have to do with clicks and conversions and I am so thankful that they chose to build and be with us each year.
These rooms are full of absolute silent savages you’ve never heard of from countries you can’t pronounce.
Don’t even get me started on the talk leads (speakers).
I love this because I get the chance to pick a lot of speakers that don't really get to be on stage often. A little bit quirky, a little bit unique. English not as perfect. This is not a closed-show, hide-everything scenario..you have to be open and honest to it. We have anywhere between 13-17 speakers, and every one of them is sharing very relevant stuff. No fluff, no branded hype, no sponsors get to talk at all. They get in the room but they can’t touch the stage.
Events like this provide you a market standing. You need to know where you size up, and to see what you’re doing (or not doing) compared to the rest of the crowd so you, or your team, can go do that shit.
You need to understand what's actually happening, not just what you read online in short click-baity increments of information.
You need to express yourself and smile and sit with people and see people's bodies and shit. And a change of environment is inspirational.
One more thing, cause we take this very seriously and I want to shout these people out.
We fly our AV team out from San Diego and Arizona to Greece with all their stuff. (we use the same team every event, non-negotiable)
Our own videographer
Our own photographer
Our own OPS team
We don't mess around with this because of what happens here. I trust this team with everything to make sure that never happens.
I hope anybody on this list gets to come and plug in at one of these. Every time I get in these rooms and see how much is still out there and how much more there is to do, I just get fired up.
So if you’re planning to come to this next one, let me know and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.
Next event I’m running is in San Diego - it’s mine, it’s more focused on ecommerce than anything else but it’s going to be a good time as well.
More info here:
Sept 21-22 → https://commerceroundtable.com/
See you next week.
- Shack