Hanging with Guy at Gansevoort

So I've been blogging for a year and half or so. And I still love it. Loooovvve it. For lots of reasons. One of which is the unexpected and unpredictable opportunities that come up through all these interweb connections. Things like realizing companies want to give free stuff to my readers, making crafts at Martha's studio, and the chance to start a cool website. But one my the most unexpected experiences so far happened last Wednesday night.

Guy Kawasaki was in New York. He had recently become aware of sk*rt and decided he was a fan. He happened to meet Laura (my sk*rt partner) after a panel at SXSW, and then met Laurie (my other sk*rt partner) in Charlotte at a conference. So of course he figured he better complete the meeting of the sk*rt trio by catching up with me in New York.

I'm sure some of you out there don't know much about Guy — but your husbands and boyfriends will — especially if they're even slightly techie. Guy Kawasaki is one of the most well respected men in the business and technology world. He is best known as the Apple Evangelist, the man who helped the world realize how much we all love Apple products. He's an entrepreneur — a starter of excellent websites like Truemors and Alltop. A connector of people. Author of nine books. Super smart — wise even. Super nice. If you want him to speak to your company about innovation or motivation — and he is consistently in high demand — you'll need to pay from $45,000 to $55,000. He's that cool.



So Wednesday night I hung out with him in his hotel lobby (whoever was hosting him had put him up at the super-chic-impossible-to-pronounce-hotel in the meatpacking district). We talked for an hour and a half. Just me and Guy. Having very frank conversation about building websites, selling advertising, answering email, politics, venture capitalist funding, giving interviews, site traffic, ad networks, failing, how much money can be made at different types of ventures, and how Guy likes to play hockey (every single day). No agenda. Nothing to accomplish. Just hanging out.

He had been up and traveling at 4:00 am that morning, and I kept him up way past his bedtime. But how could I pass up the opportunity to hang out with such an interesting person for as long as possible?

Best thing about Guy Kawasaki: he's an incredibly nice person. And I wish him only the best of luck in all of his ventures. And especially in the hockey rink.