Judy Bronson, Tony Viviano, Gary Vaynerchuk, Angie Ortmann, Arlene and Stanley Browne, Freida Custodio
It’s been a few days now, but we’re still basking in the “Vayniac”
afterglow; a friend of mine calls it a “Vayn-over.”
Thursday night, global internet sensation Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine
Library TV, Cork'd, and Gourmet Library and author of the New York Times Best Seller Crush
It! was in St. Louis for a stop on his book signing tour. Dubbed "the Social Media Sommelier", Gary built his multi-million dollar business on the internet through
video blogging, and social media outlets like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
His message was simple: the Internet is here to stay and
social media is the way to build your brand and business. Businesses are built by word of
mouth, and connecting and interacting through social media, is the way to get your
story told.
(We hear you Gary and we concur! If you haven't read the book Crush It! and you are building a business in today's world, I strongly suggest you go out and get it, NOW!)
Click here to check out Gary's speech on David Sitemen Garland's blog of Rise to the Top
While Stanley was at Robust, holding down the fort, I stood in line with fellow Vayniacs: Freida Custodio, Judy Bronson, Jayce McQuerter and Tony Viviano. And as thrilled as were just to meet with him, get our books signed and a get a photo op, we had a mission: Get Gary to Robust.
For the past few months, weeks and more frequently the last few days we have been facebooking, tweeting, and emailing everyone we could to promote Gary in St. Louis and invite him to Robust. We even named a special wine flight in honor of him: “The Vayniac Flight”.
After his fascinating and inspiring speech, he invited everyone in the audience to drink wine with him at Robust. I yelled out the address: “227 W. Lockwood!” And he said, “You can always tell who the owner is!”Many of the audience did join us at Robust and it was quite a night. Some of our fans and followers were part of the crew and we met lots of great new people too!
Me with Gary at the Crush It! book signing.
Judy Bronson, Tony Viviano, Gary Vaynerchuk, Arlene Maminta Browne, Jayce McQuerter, Lewis Howes, Angie Ortmann, Freida Custodio
New Robust fans: Jeff and Julie Mastroianni
Gary and Chris Reimer of Rizzo Tees
My daughter, Molly, asked me the next day, “Mommy, did you
‘crush it’ last night?
I answered, “Yes, Molly, I most certainly did!”
Gary, we will live by your words forever: “Love your family. Work super hard. Live your passion.”
Arlene Maminta Browne
