Wednesday, August 27, 2008

one, two, three, or four... responding to rock racing PR guy

it is nice to know rock racing cares about me and my amazing idea for keirin cut jeans? how do i know they care? the PR guy sean called me last week to tell me so. and then this week he sends me this email:
Beth:

I am following up to see if you received a reply from Michael Ball or Erika Decker (marketing manager for Rock Racing) regarding the keirin cut jeans.

Thanks!

Sean
well, neither ericka nor michael had gotten back to me. but, how nice of sean to check in!

i kinda feel like i am on thin ice and not quite so sure about the extent to which i should continue my harassment. on the one hand, sean is totally nice and i don't want to be an annoying little bitch. it isn't his fault these people aren't getting back to me. on the other hand, he is my only in. and being annoying has gotten me further than being polite would have.... but all that said, it is very easy to harass someone who you haven't spoken with... and much more difficult to be impolite to someone who has expressed kindness to you. as you can tell, it is difficult to know how to proceed.

option #1: the diplomatic response:
Dear Sean:
Thank you very much for getting back to me so promptly. I have not heard anything from Mr. Ball or Ms. Decker. I would very much like to speak to either them about the prospects of keirin cut jeans. If you have their assistant's numbers, I can give them a call to schedule a time to talk. Thank you very much again for all of your help. I greatly look forward to meeting you and working with you further.
With warm regards,
Beth
option #2: the blasé response:
Hi Sean-
Nope, I haven't heard anything from either of them.
Any news?
Thanks for your phone message Friday!
-Beth
option #3: the coquette response:
hi sean!
thanks so much for your email! you really are too sweet to get back to me! it's really wonderful to have an ally like yourself for keirin cut jeans. you must certainly have a lady friend who faces this dilemma of too big quads to fit in R&R jeans--and you are sick of hearing her talk about it.

it's funny- i keep getting random messages from people i don't even know about these keirin cut jeans. like, this week, i've had dozens and dozens of random people comment on this idea on my blog. this is because my blog got very popular this past week...cause i was linked by this guy called "bike snob nyc" and then i got 3,000 people on my site! after that, all sorts of people started finding me on myspace (which i haven't used in ages!) to tell me how much they like the idea! in fact, my friend from college who lives in nyc said he was hanging out with some rpeople, and he mentioned my idea for keirin cut-- and this woman for DC said: "Oh! That's Beth Bikes! I read her blog, are you kidding? She's awesome!"... and then (according to my friend): "... all the women I was hanging out with started a surprisingly long conversation about how a keirin cut women's jean is the best idea ever, totally needed, how come nobody thought of this before." isn't that cute? you don't even need to market these jeans! i've already done it!

anyway, sean, to answer your question... no i haven't heard from anyone except you! :( i'd really like to talk with micahel or erika about this... but i have to admit, i would like to talk with michael more... cause he is michael ball, and kinda has a cult personality thing going on, if you know what i mean... that, and, well, i think i'm probably better with middle aged men, than corporate-type women... but i can wear lots of hats and like talking to all sorts of different people-- be it the old church ladies or the budapest punk rock crowd.

anyway, you have my cell so have michael or erika call me anytime. i can't wait to chit chat!

hugs and kisses,

bethie
option #4: the angry response:
sean,

no, haven't heard from them.

frankly, i am getting a little bit sick of this. i sent my original email on august 6, and now it is august 26. i don't care if michael is "busy" with the tour of britain, USCF elections, or whatever else. that is his job. i have a full time job too. and i train and race my bike. and have other things i do. it doesn't take all that long to get back to someone. so please tell michael to get over himself and be respectful enough to get back to me.

if this idea shows up in the winter lineup without my consultation, i will be very angry and take action certainly.

respectfully,
beth
well, option 4 certainly isn't me... but look how mean i can sound when i want to! it is hard to write mean letters. it is best done when hungry. (which is what i did.) but i could never send such a letter.... especially to sean cause he is so so nice!

well, while i initially would like to send option #3... maybe that is a bad idea. maybe it is kind of like dating.... being really cute and funny will usually get me a date or two, but it usually causes a fizzle around date number 3. and then unreturned calls. and then general agony. and then said dates going out with your friends instead. what a bummer being nice! i haven't really successfully figured out the social norm of dating, even though i am 26, but from what i have gathered through years and years without success, i think it involves some sort of aloofness. and maybe some general badassness. right? well, i am not so good at aloof and badass, but it is always good to try new things. so maybe i should try this with sean and send option #2.... like i don't need him... even though i do....but he doesn't know that..... well, he does know that... do you see my continual conundrum?!?!

but, we can treat this like george on seinfeld--when he landed that job with the yankees--do everything exactly opposite of what you normally would, and success will follow. thus, stemming from many experiences of failure and rejection, i think it is best to try something new. option #2: blasé response to sean.

16 comments:

Courtenay said...

you are so awesome. *

and yes, #2.



* no i am not trying to date you ;)

EB said...

I think option 3 is the best, but that might be because I went for the coquette route when trying to get Michael in the panda ears.

Merkeley Bike said...

I'm betting Sean can pick the response he likes best.

Anonymous said...

#1 polite short and to the point
#2 text msg
#3 blah-blah-blah "won't she shut up?"
#4 "bitchy"

yes..I've been trying to date you for years

WarrenG said...

Three recovery days = supra-level brain activity...?

I think #1 is closest to your style and a semi-casual business approach that probably meshes well with the recipient's style.

Secundus said...

#1 or #2, definitely. Depends on how well you know him, how extensive your contact has been in the past.

I'd lean towards #1, as you are looking for them to go out of their way, in a way. That is, they weren't asking anything from you, but you from them, even if it could ultimately benefit them (though, realistically, the addition of one more SKU to their product line could easily be more cost than profit for them).

If you just skipped all that blather (a smart option): still, an awesome idea that I support!

beth bikes! said...

people's suggestions are surprising--
especially considering what blabber got my foot in the door in the first place!

beth bikes! said...

(and let me just say, how nice it is to actually know the face of everyone who just commented!)

place_holder said...

i am not voting.

but, #3 is the closest to you because of the abundance of exclamation marks.

Anonymous said...

i think i need to hire you.

karla said...

This is awesome. Yeah, I think you should just email Sean a link to your blog post and let him choose which email he'd like to respond to. You know he's one of the 3000 :)

Anonymous said...

In number #3 you say michael more ... is michael ball.
In that case he should make keirin cut and mega sumo cut jeans, cause michael more is pretty big.

Anonymous said...

I'd go with number one. In the event that you never manage to get them to make your jeans, you might still be able to get some free swag from sean if you keep being nice to him.

Unfortunately, you live too far to date.

Anonymous said...

#3 for sure.

liquidwrench said...

It hardly matters which letter you send now that Sean and Michael and Erika have all probably read this post. Very clever!

Anonymous said...

This was possibly intentional as liquidwrench alludes to, but I thought I'd chime in anyway.

I work in the cycling industry and was trying to get Erika Decker's contact information. A google search of "Erika Decker Rock Racing" yields your blog as the first hit. On that note, congratulations!

But also, you might be hurting career prospects by so blatantly broadcasting your thoughts on the company and their management.

It's amazing what you can learn through google.