One of my favorite movies is “The Jerk” with Steve Martin. There is a scene where the new phone book arrives and Navin Johnson (Steve Martin’s character), who is working and living at a gas station, races thru the pages to find his name. He is overwhelmed when he finds his information and exclaims “Things are going to happen for me now”. He believed that his name being in print would expose him to the world and create new opportunities.
I felt just like Navin Johnson this morning as we docked in LA aboard the Carnival Splendor completing our 5th event of the year. Here are a few reasons why I am “New Phonebook” excited.
#1 – Ellen DeGeneres thanked Sixthman on the air yesterday for hosting a viewer on board the Mayercraft Carrier. (Can someone help me find a link to see this?) Ellen also sent the winner armed with a video camera to document the vacation and is planning on featuring the footage on an upcoming episode. I saw some of the footage and believe it will capture the types of experiences guests and artists are having with us at sea.
#2 – John Mayer has already “Twittered” several times today about his experience on the Mayercraft Carrier to the almost 500,000 people following him. A personal endorsement like this should go a long way for the future of the event and amongst other artists who might be hesitant to jump on a ship with us.
#3 - It was my priority to spend a lot of time with the artists on our 2009 cruises and the ideas they are coming up with to make this concept better are inspiring me like never before. While I have never asked any of our artists for an autograph or picture for myself, I have been able to spend quality time with almost all of them sharing what we are learning and insisting that they give us honest feedback about how if feels for them. Plus the fact that they are enjoying themselves and realizing tangible career benefits from being part of our community gives me more confidence that the artists will continue to share more onboard.
#4 – I had hundreds of conversations with guests and am blown away by the compliments, ideas for improvement and depth of impact being a part of our community is having on them.
#5 – Our team executed at a level I have never seen and am so proud to be part of this company.
I am not just excited because someone famous decided to thank us on national TV because that doesn’t make who we are or what do any better. I am excited because the guests and the artists (the people who control the outcome in my opinion as long as we listen to them) are inspired to innovate the experience and proud to tell their story to the world.
Andy
PS – I normally write my blog late Sunday night while it’s quiet at home. This past Sunday night, John Mayer asked if he could DJ for some guests and his friends in this tiny club on the ship. I do have a new set of memories of watching John set up a sound system and run back to his cabin to get his laptop so he could share with us his playlist. For someone who has many people to do all that for him, it was refreshing to see him “New Phonebook” excited. I apologize for breaking the rhythm. Now that we have 7 months til our next cruise, we will return to our normally scheduled blogging.