Thread by @Cliff_Lewis

Story time! So I just finished the most heartwarming, surreally satisfying workweek of my life. And it all started with a weird idea five years ago. Thread 👇

My good friend @CapnSkot and I work at an industrial marketing agency. Think Mad Men, but replace all the debauchery with factory tours. Lots and lots of factory tours.

All those tours got us thinking about the ones we watched on TV as kids. Hint: They typically involved cardigans, neckties and blue tennis shoes.

We especially remembered the crayon factory tour—the OG of all Oddly Satisfying Videos.

So five years ago, this got @CapnSkot and I talking a lot about Fred, and how he could offer some unique inspiration for anyone whose job requires them to find wonder in a seemingly dry subject.

After talking about this for years, Scott and I decided to do something about it. So in the summer of 2018, we wrote a thing. It seemed like a weird premise, but we believed in it, so… 👉 [PUBLISH] godfrey.com/insights/thoug…

A few months later, we turned that thing into a talk. I’m proud to report that it wound up being one of the world’s weirdest presentations. We had synchronized cardigan zipping, musical cues, a visiting mailman. There was a whole bit where I argued with a puppet.

It was sheer maximalist absurdity, and we loved every minute of it. Truth be told, we almost took things even further. But, alas, we couldn't get any budget for staging. "Nobody designs their own set for a conference talk." Fine. Agree to disagree.

2 months later we got the chance to deliver that same talk on a bigger stage at the '18 MarketingProfs B2B Forum (thanks @michaeljbarber for the endorsement!)

Turns out people like weird. We ran out of seats. #BestFireCodeViolationEver

https://twitter.com/SFerika/status/1063183696562286592

The audience was great. But the best thing about that event was all the friends we made.

Friend-making is a magical thing. It reminds me of how Bilbo talked about roads: "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

So we made some great MarketingProfs friends—including THE Prof of all Profs, the fabulous word-queen Ann Handley.

Flash forward one year and lots of phone calls later.

This brings us to last week.

The Gaylord National Convention Center, Washington DC.

We got the chance to reprise our talk at the 2019 MarketingProfs B2B Forum. This time on the main stage.

They even built a set. Basically the exact set we had dreamed of one year earlier. 🤯+😍

So last week was un-effing-real. I'm still in shock. But if there's one thing I’ve managed to learn from the experience, it's this: Listen to your weird ideas. If you really believe in them, follow those ideas with all the sheer maximalist absurdity you can muster.

And one more thing: Make friends with magical people like @CapnSkot and @MarketingProfs . At the very least you’ll get an awesome friend. And beyond that, “there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”