Why Do Runners Hate Sleep? (And Other Questions I’ll Answer at 6 AM on March 7th)
Here’s what I expected from Tuesday’s Apex Chamber networking event: coffee, handshakes, maybe a new lead.
Here’s what I did NOT expect: to become a corporate race sponsor rubbing shoulders with companies that have actual marketing budgets.
I had been to more than a few networking events at the Apex Chamber of Commerce, so this week’s morning gathering wasn’t going to be out of the ordinary as far as I was concerned. It was going to be held at the new Foxtail Coffee in Apex, NC – it’d been there some months but it was new to me.
Anyway, it was a very nice early morning crowd as I was walking around, mingling with familiar and new faces — talking about their businesses, chatting a bit about audio’connell. Then, kinda outta nowhere I was at a table with Amy Riley who is the Volunteer Relationship Coordinator for the Apex Chamber of Commerce.
Live Announcer and Emcee Peter K. O’Connell networking at the Apex Chamber of Commerce AM Networking in February just before getting roped into becoming the Entertainment Sponsor for Run The Peak on March 7th
If you haven’t met her, she’s just all the good things – smart, happy, interested, conversational, with everybody. We just got to talking about the various things she was doing with the Apex Chamber and how she’s now in charge of the Run The Peak 5K & 10K race on March 7th.
This upcoming 5th Annual running of this race is her first time overseeing it and she went on to talk about some of the things was involved in the planning and in that list – blamo!- here it came: “Oh, hey, we need an announcer for the race.”
“Oh s—!”, said the voice inside my head.
Yes, I do live announcing, yes I do live emceeing but I DIDN’T wake up and expect *this* on my early morning networking plate.
A few minutes later, I became not only the Emcee Host / Announcer of the Apex Chamber of Commerce’s 5th Annual Run The Peak 5K & 10K race, I became the race’s Entertainment Sponsor. Yup, that’s me up there sponsoring with Dell Technologies, Fidelity Bank, Wake Med Hospital and a bunch of other significantly laaaarrrrger businesses than mine.
So at Zero Dark Thirty on Saturday, March 7 (WHY do runners need to get up so early??!!!) I will be on the mic at the Run The Peak, beginning at Apex Town Hall on Hunter Street. Hope to see you there…please say hi!
