Whew! A NOW Revolution Thank You

Our famous TequilaNOW party at SXSW

Yesterday marked the official end of the book tour for The NOW Revolution. Amber Naslund and I will continue to support the book, talk about the book, do presentations about the book, etc. long into the future. But, the official end of the tour is a milestone that I didn’t want to let pass without saying thank you.

Thanks to each and every person who dodged traffic, work obligations, hail, tornados, and many other obstacles to come see me and/or Amber on The NOW Revolution trail. We ended up in more than 35 cities, and met many thousands of people trying to find a way to make social media about something bigger than coupons and Twitter. Hopefully, we helped in that endeavor.

From Victoria, BC to Montreal, and from San Diego to Boston, I’ve spent most of the past 150 days criss-crossing the continent (and even Europe in Amber’s case). It has been exhausting and exhilarating. I have a newfound respect for traveling circuses, carnivals, rock musicians, and stand-up comedians. It has truly been an experience I will never, ever forget.

In Austin, we learned how to sign books with a Sharpie from our friends Ann Handley and CC Chapman. We learned how to work a giant casino showroom stage from our pal Matt Ridings in St. Louis. In Orlando, I learned to not be afraid of an 80-foot HD screen showing my face. I learned how to be away from loved ones more than ever before, but learned as well how to take comfort in having so many people want to read and discuss what we wrote. I learned about bedbugs at one point, and Amber even learned how to fight off pneumonia during a book tour!

A special note of thanks to my clients who put incredible time and energy into hosting The NOW Revolution events; ExactTarget in Indianapolis and NYC; Off Madison Ave in Arizona; Casacom in Montreal; Standing Partnership in St. Louis; Strategic America in Des Moines; Bailey Gardiner in San Diego; Lovell Communications in Nashville; Babcock & Jenkins in Portland; and Flint Communications & AdFarm in St. Louis, Fargo, Duluth AND Sacramento.

Tremendous thanks as well to friends who put events together out of thin air, or twisted arms to support the book. Jason Falls, Chris Moody, Fred Von Graf, Eric Snelz, Rob Ackley, Chuck Gose, Matt Ridings, Mark Schaefer, Sean Rogers, Abbie Fink….thank you!!

To everyone who bought the book, sincere thanks to you as well. And if you haven’t bought it, but have been meaning to do so, it’s not at all too late. Please grab yourself a copy.

Thanks to the companies who helped sponsor the book tour, kick-off party, and other accoutrements. It couldn’t have been done without Radian6, ExactTarget, Tim Hayden and 44 Doors Sweet Leaf Tea, ThinkGeek, Taylor Guitars, North Social, Swix and many more great companies.

Thanks to Ethos3, who did such an amazing job on the slides for the presentation, which I’ve pasted here below for your use. This is the first time these slides have been made public. I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks to my associates at Convince & Convert; Jess Ostroff, Chris Sietsema, and Jason Amunwa for a lot of toil and trouble on the marketing side of things (and to Chris especially for the great infographics he made for the book).

And of course to Amber, for putting up with me for a year. It ain’t easy. See her fantastic thank you post here.

But most of all, thanks to my wife Alyson and my amazing kids Annika and Ethan for putting up with my many prolonged absences, especially when living in a new city with no support system. Your courage and good humor never cease to amaze me, and I always know that your sacrifices are what allow me the extraordinary opportunity to make a living doing what I love.

Lots more to come about The NOW Revolution and future projects. But today, a celebration of a tour completed.

Thank you one and all.