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I recently read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you've never met is the entrepreneur's equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I get the idea, 50 coffees is far easier than practicing something for ten years, and while I'm far from lazy I've decided to set out on a fairly simple mission: over the next 50 weeks I'm going to invite 50 interesting Vancouverites, most of whom I have never met before, to go for coffee. I'm going to use this as an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also using it as a platform to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. |
Meet Rachel Thexton. Partner in Dunn PR, dog lover and another friend of mine that I'm breaking my own "strangers only" rule for so that I can introduce you to her. I'm breaking this rule because Rachel sums up all of the qualities of somebody that I would vote for if there were a "Best PR Person in Vancouver" award and I was on the judging panel as a publisher.
Yes we've gone for coffee before, in fact the very first time she reached out to me via email with a story that I thought was interesting she followed up by asking if we could go for coffee so she could learn about what we do here and what she should and shouldn't be pitching to me. To put this into perspective for you, there are PR people in Vancouver who have been sending me emails for 2 years whom I have never picked up a story from, but whom continue to BCC me on their mailing lists, never actually asking me what I want to hear about or bothering to spend time on our site to see what we're all about so they can specifically pitch me subjects that might have a better chance of getting published. I have never met these people in real life nor talked to them on the phone and I doubt I ever will. Rachel is the extreme opposite of those faceless PR people which is the reason why I've picked up arts stories from her over the years and continue to work with her. In fact I look forward to hearing what she's got for me next. She reaches out with stories that she thinks I might like, and there are clients and stories that she knows I won't be interested in, so she doesn't contact me about those. And she can take no for an answer. And she works with us on stories. AND she's been connecting us with awesome rescue groups that we've been featuring on our Dogtown Vancouver and Van City Kitty features because she's an animal lover. And she's just generally really nice. Just look at that smile!
It was a pleasure to spend time at Everything Cafe near the V.I.A. office talking with Rachel about her work and what she's been up to lately. Check out what she does on the Dunn PR website, follow her on Twitter at @RThexton and stay tuned for more 50 Coffees!
