By the time ACL week actually starts, the good calendars in this city are already full. The warm-up window is the two or three weeks before October 2, while people are still planning their Austin trip instead of living it. That’s when you send the message asking for fifteen minutes, not the week they land.
Larry’s line is sell it first, then go make it, and a booked meeting is the smallest version of that: lock the slot before you’ve fully prepared for it. PQRST still comes first: preview who you’re asking to meet, question what you actually want from the conversation, read anything they’ve published, summarize it in your head before you hit send. External API applies to the ask itself, you’re not creating a reason for them to talk to you, you’re borrowing the reason they’re already flying to Austin for ACL, F1, or Tech Week.
A generic ‘let’s connect while you’re in town’ message gets ignored, a specific fifteen-minute ask tied to one of those three events gets a reply. Go in with a small amount of house money already banked, so a slow week of replies doesn’t rattle you into sounding desperate in the follow-up.
The people worth meeting are getting the same flood of requests you are, the difference is timing, not charm. Book the meeting for the calmer moment, coffee before the gates open or a late breakfast the morning after, not the loudest hour of the weekend.
Confirm twice: once when you book it, once the week the event actually starts, calendars move fast under this much traffic. The whole warm-up is one habit: ask early, ask specific, and let someone else’s event be the reason you’re both in the room.
Details: Watch Larry’s booking playbook
#PreEventPrep #BookingStrategy #Web12