The Name Tag Guy

Dickless.

That's how I met Scott Ginsberg, "The Name Tag Guy."

I guess I'd better explain.

In January, 2006, I was at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) "Boot Camp" event, at the Coronado Resort, Disney-Orlando. Scott was one of the featured speakers of the first morning, and with the eagerness of getting a good start at a major event, I was intrigued to hear him.

From the moment Scott started, it was clear he was an excellent speaker. His easy style and engaging charm seemed effortless, which to a veteran speaker denotes hours of preparation and focus. Scott began speaking about creating awareness of who you are, of literally "owning" a word, so that if anyone googled that word, you'd appear on that first page of results.

He asked the audience what word they owned and walked forward to hear the answers. I raised My hand, but as I was seated near the middle of the 400+ member audience, it would take some time before he reached Me. Some 10 feet in front of Me was a dynamic lady, Yvonne DiVita, who when Scott asked her what word she owned, replied "Dickless."

My hand shot down. (No, not for that reason.)

Scott did a 3-second pause and with glorious wit said "Moving on!"

The room erupted in laughter. Sensitive to nuances, I was sure "jenius" would fall far short of "dickless" on the impact meter, so I let someone else offer their word (whatever it was) and Scott continued his presentation.

He concluded later to thunderous applause and for the rest of the 3-day event, he was deservedly on everyone's lips. I went up to talk to Scott after he finished and We met. (He noted I was the only person in the audience wearing a hat.) Since then, I've followed his ascent into the world of public speaking and bookwriting with joy and admiration. Scott was even kind enough to send Me an advance copy of his latest book "How To Be That Guy," so much as to even quote Me on how good the book is.

What makes Scott interesting is his clear focus on being approachable, a true advantage in the "distant" sociability typical of most of the U.S. What I'd like to have Scott do is come and speak in Puerto Rico where approachablility is a given and effectiveness--making the most of approachability--is not so automatic. I hope it happens soon.

Until then, go visit Scott's website. Subscribe to his e-zine, read his blog and listent to his podcasts (one of which replays the incident I mention here.) Life is too short to avoid making as many friends as possible and Scott can show you how to get the most out of being dickless.

Oops, I meant approachable. Funny how My hat fell in front of My eyes at that moment...


The Jenius Has Spoken.