IdeaMensch – 2000 miles into America – Missoula, Montana was great

Our first five events are in the can. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Missoula. We’re about 2,000 miles into this trip and now we’re in Idaho on our way to Utah.

To say that these first couple of weeks have been incredible would be an understatement. We pretty much had full houses wherever we went. Our speakers were incredible, our audiences rocked and the support we received has truly moved all of us. I spent months telling people that our goal was to inspire people. Well, turns out, we’re the ones inspired.

That being said, and more about this later, in these next two weeks we will face some of our biggest challenges of this tour. But first, let me talk about it what has happened so far.

(Lots of interesting stories and pictures about big cities on the site here but Missoula set the standard – Russ)

We did something different this time. Because of my connection to Missoula and especially the University, I decided to give away a large number of tickets. We had sold a fair amount of tickets already, and a few people had bought our "Pay-It-Forward" sponsorships which gives us the freedom to give away more tickets. Anyways, it turned out to be a smart decision. We had the event at a place called the Winery, and pretty much had a full house? On a Friday night? It was incredible. (and the Winery http://www.missoulawinery.com/ was perfect – Russ)

So were the speakers. We only had four speakers at this event, which was the right number. What made their talks different than past ones was that each got very personal about their struggles and lessons as entrepreneurs. The talks really hit home with our audience. Not a single person left early. Actually, it seemed like the room kept getting more and more packed.

I really think there’s something brewing from an entrepreneurial perspective in Missoula. So much energy, a growing number of resources and many many people who truly care about creating something special in Missoula. We felt that energy.

A word about generosity. At the end of the event, I offered anyone who paid for their tickets their moeny back. It only seemed fair as I felt bad that some people paid and others didn’t.

Not only did not a single person ask for their money back, but people actually came up to me and handed me cash – ranging from the price of a ticket to a "pay it forward" sponsorship. We also picked up a beer sponsor. Thank you Big Sky Brewing http://www.bigskybrew.com/Home .

Full Story and Images: http://ideamensch.com/2000-miles/

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