This story begins several months ago at ICAST. It was the night before we’d be heading home and, as I was coming to understand, ICAST is kind of like a mullet haircut, business in the front and party in the back, as they say. The days are filled with sales pitches, product spiels, meetings and endless video shoots, but when the clock strikes 4, the business aspect runs off and waits for the next morning, ties loosen, the music cranks and the libations begin to flow.
On this evening, I found myself at the Mustad booth, talking with my coworkers, Jim Hutchinson, Jenni Ackerman and Matt Broderick, along with “Crazy” Alberto and a few others that I didn’t know. Matt brought up the fishing show we put on each September in Long Island and asked Alberto if he’d be coming back this year, like he always does, to give a seminar. He smiled and said, “Of course!” Jokingly, I said to him, “This year, you have to do a seminar with me!” I tipped my head back to laugh and, when my eyes refocused, I saw a very serious look on Al’s face. “I would love to do that,” he said intensely.
I was immediately overcome with a sense of “what did I just get myself into!?” It’s not a confidence thing, I’ve put in my time, I’ve paid my dues, but I just don’t see myself standing on the roof of the angling high-rise like I do Alberto. I look at him, 20-something years older than I am and see how he’s mastered so many different species, stripers, snook, tarpon, redfish, those wild-looking clown knife fish… he’s practically an alien, who sees things through a sense that ordinary human beings just don’t possess. Yeah, I’m being a little dramatic for effect, but it’s also kind of irrefutable…
Six weeks passed without another hint that this idea might sprout wings. And then Matt, who was tasked with putting the seminars together asked me if I would be attending and if I’d like to do a seminar. I agreed and started working out a topic, not even an hour later he checked back in and said that Alberto wanted to proceed with the group seminar idea, with Matt as a third and Jim Hutchinson acting as the moderator, of a panel-style ‘question and answer’ presentation. My offhand quip had fully taken root and it was going to happen.
When I told my wife about the idea she asked me, “Are you nervous about this one?” I thought for a second and realized that I really wasn’t. “Answering questions is easy,” I reasoned, “My responses will always be the same, so it’s a no pressure thing.” And if I’m being honest, I have really grown to enjoy public speaking.
The day came and I hopped a ferry to Long Island. The show went off without a hitch; I even had a kid stop me and ask me to sign his fishing hat! Boy, was I flattered! I saw lots of friends and got the chance to see many of the people I work with on a daily basis in person for a change. The seminar time came and we assembled at the table, each holding a mic. It went well, for the most part, I think we drifted in and out of topic a bit, but those are just things to note for the next time.
When the ‘round table discussion’ was over, I found Alberto on the show floor and we talked a bit more about maybe doing another one in the future. He seems to be totally onboard with that idea, so I sincerely hope that we can do it again in the future.
