Elvis in Louisville (Day 9-10)

My first talk in Louisville was at Greater Louisville Inc. which is the metro chamber of commerce and economic development agency for the region. This was especially interesting to me because I talked to this group back in 2000, so we were able to look at a few things that have changed since then.

In the evening, I gave a talk at the Social Media Club in Louisville. Jason Falls brought together a terrific group of people who are truly interested in word of mouth. We met at the Visual Art Association at the Water Tower, and it was the first time I gave a talk with a glass bomb hanging over the podium. Jason is one of those people who are both a social and and an expert hub and he put me in touch with several other people in the city. One is professor David Faulds at the University of Louisville who's teaching a class on social media together with another professor--Glynn Mangold at Murray State. Jason also put me in touch with the local public radio station and I had a fun conversation with Julie Kredens on her program State of Affairs. Thanks Jason! Also special thanks to Bruce Palmer, NOLS director of admission and marketing who joined me for the day and helped me find my way in Louisville (these NOLS folks know how to navigate without a GPS!).

Now, about Elvis. As Bruce and I were doing all this serious stuff, the bus crew got to participate in a special parade. As it turns out, there's a tradition in Louisville to have a rat race (yes, with real rats) a few weeks before the Kentucky Derby and they have a Rodent Parade that's part of the fun. You have to watch this video and see Matthew Celesta throwing candy from the top of the bus. And that's where they met Elvis. Brian even got him to say a few words on camera.

In the afternoon Tootsie got a little sick and had to be taken to a local bus clinic. After a few hours of rest, we were all on the road again, on our way to the last stop--Saint Louis.