StrategyTalk

I spoke with Ginger from Career Management today. This is the meeting which was put off from last week. And the conversation took a different path than what I had imagined. When I sat down we began talking about her husband who was having heart troubles and my measly trials of the day. It’s a Monday, there were some trials, and her husband is doing well now. I quickly turned it to the difficulty of finding a job, since that was why I was there to start with, and the first thing she suggested was “we need to get you making direct calls”. Now I don’t know if she was referring to follow up calls or cold calls. We’ve talked on both in the past. I assume she meant the follow up kind.

This is when I told her of my meeting with the man who encouraged me to start this blog, and all of his suggestions.

She jumped on the Book Expo idea. The BookExpo America (BEA) is a weeklong expo that showcases the newest books and “everything exciting in the world of books”. That’s taken straight from the website. It’s a trade only expo, up in New York, starting May 24th and ending May 27th. I’ve been thinking on this for a while, and my main deterrent has and still is … money.

Without a job, a trip like this is going to be hard on my wallet. I have family and friends who live up there, but it may be easier to stay at a nearby hotel for cheap. This could end up as my biggest expense; my step dad suggested that I stay at second tier hotels for about $80 a night. If I book my flight now on JetBlue I can get my airfare for $205 (big expense 2) if I come in the Friday before I need to and leave on a Saturday. And that’s not even considering the “special fares” (5% discount) for the BEA that JetBlue offers. Anyway, that time frame will provide me with much extra time while I’m up there to network with people, maybe even set up some interviews if it comes to that. But that would bring my hotel expense up to $640 total. True, it would cut down on transportation costs and the undeterminable risk of public transportation time, but eating is a priority as well. I like eating.

Would family put me up for 8 days? Do they like me that much? Maybe, but where are they in relation to where the expo is; the Jacob K. Javits Center? I have no idea. That’s one research point. Oh, and the networking with people thing, that’s another. This trip will require some major prep work.

I intend to find myself a list of the publishing companies who will be there that week (its provided on the site) and hopefully find contact information for their representatives. From there I will contact them, introduce me and let them know I will be there and would love the opportunity to meet with them to partake of their advice. The plan is that they say “Sure! I look forward to meeting you in person” and I hop on the plane and make good my intentions.

This expo is primarily a networking event for me. I have very few contacts in the publishing business and I both want and need to make more. This will also provide me with an opportunity to meet Alan Boyko in person if he is available; my one contact, who I already know approves of this idea because he suggested it to me.

Big expense number 3 – small in comparison to the others, but hey – is admittance to the expo itself. Pre-registration is $140 as far as I can tell. There is no student discount. I checked.

Wanna hear the plan? Of course you do. (Pause for dramatic effect)

I’m going to attempt to work there.

I’m hoping that they would be willing to place me on their temporary event staff as a volunteer, if need be, in return for access to the expo. I’m praying that at the very least they give me half off or something. That way I can attend at least part of the time and meet tons of interesting people interested in the same interesting things I’m interested in.

So… that’s it I guess. I’ll be starting to work on that this week, so updates will be forthwith. Oh, one more thing – expense number 4… business cards.