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This site and its contents Copyright ©2010 Chris Wallace. All Rights Reserved. Icons by Rogie King of Komodo Media. 
Last week, I had the opportunity to meet Gary Vaynerchuk at a book signing/networking event at World Market in St. Louis. Now, to be perfectly honest, I haven’t seen many of his videos and have never purchased a bottle of wine in my life, so I certainly can’t claim to be his biggest fan. However, after meeting him, I can safely say that this is one guy that really knows what he’s talking about, especially when it comes to knowing where the web is going. On top of that, he’s super nice.
After standing in line for about 20 minutes to get a signed copy of “Crush It,” I met Gary, shook his hand, and told him I had a strange request. My buddy Brad(@imbradmiller) couldn’t make it to the event because he was stuck at the office working late. Naturally, I had to rub it in that he couldn’t be there so I thought, “what’s better than putting him on the phone with Gary Vaynerchuk? Nothing.” So I handed my iPhone to Gary with Brad on the line. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I do remember him cursing at Brad, asking him why wasn’t able to make it. After joking with him a bit, he let him know that he was genuinely sorry he couldn’t be there. After hanging up with Brad, Gary signed a book for me and proceeded to kick my butt in an epic thumb wrestling match.
After the signing, Gary spoke for at least an hour. I think the most important thing he spoke on had to do with the companies he’s been investing in, Gowalla and Matt Galligan’s own SimpleGeo. After the event/talk, there were quite a few of us who went over to Robust Wine Bar and had some time to talk with Gary in a much more casual setting. I also met some awesome folks from the Social Media Club St. Louis. All in all, it was a great event and I’m certainly glad I was able to participate and spend a little time getting to know the Jets-loving Gary Vaynerchuk.
The video I posted is part 1 in a series of 7 videos posted by Karen Goodman (@karenstl), a real estate agent in the area, who runs a blog called Arch City Homes. I would encourage you to watch all the videos if you have time, as the advice and information he shares are indispensable. And also, big thanks to Karen for posting the videos!
Gary is awesome and is definitely not a motivational speaker. he’s a doer.
:0
So true! He’s pretty motivational though by being a doer.
That part where he asks how many people said “I’m not getting a cell phone” was really eye opening. I’ve never put social media in that context. I feel inspired.
No doubt about it. I was a youngster when cell phones started coming onto the scene, so I wasn’t one of those people, but I can certainly imagine. Did you watch all the videos or just this first one?
Very inspirational, love the part about “Shut the f*ck up and get to work!”
LOL, yeah, very passionate!!!
It kills me. I went to SXSW in ‘08 and stood behind Gary in line for registration. Little Jack Horner was too intimidated to introduce myself, and I’ve kicked myself over that ever since.
Oddly, he’s one of the only “big-name celebrities” I’ve ever felt completely comfortable approaching. I mean, I thumb wrestled him. It doesn’t get any more casual than that.
So rad Chris… I have been fortunate to chat with Gary once or twice on aim… and via twitter… I love that he is just him… not trying to be anything else. I have read “Crush It” and really enjoyed the book, besides just being inspirational, there are actually really good ideas in there.
~ Aaron I
Gary is the bomb to listen too. I definitely love his enthusiasm and I’ve come to similar conclusions as him with the way media, branding, social networking, etc are going. the explosion of technology is going to intertwine everything tighter and tighter and the key is to get in now before it’s to late.
Gary’s a great guy. Saw him speak at FOWA Miami last year, great talk. Very friendly. When his book came out he called a friend of mine to tell him to buy his book because I asked him to. Funny stuff.
P.S. Chris… Twitter called… it’s wondering where you are.
Hey Carl. I’m right here. Hit me up on skype: chriswallace7
Wow I envy you. I only found out about Gary late last year… once the book appeared in our local bookstore, it was mine. Devoured it in a few days and watched a lot of Gary’s famous keynote speeches online…
The story you tell about the phonecall to Brand and thumbwrestling with Gary makes me an even bigger fan.. thanks for sharing..