Who wants to make $500?!?

[Kohen_Gadol]

Friday...3PMish...at the Ergopharm booth...a historic moment was made. Patrick Arnold & I shook hands for the very first time. While Patrick and I were chatting for 10-15 minutes (thanks for the free t-shirt and RTD shot) both of us were oblivious to the little crowd growing and surrounding both of us. When we shook hands, there was a sea of flashes from cameras going off. I was in a black suit and Patrick was wearing Ergopharm gear.

Only when I got back to the Gaspari booth did I realize what a quasi-historic moment this was and I was like "damned it, why didn't I get a picture of that?" - so if anyone out there has a high res picture of us shaking hands for the first time (not a cell phone picture, a decent, high res photo of us) it's worth $500 cash if you can get it to me.

Patrick is actually a good guy in person. Well, other than when he tried to poison me by dumping a gram of geranamine in my beer...then again, he was smart enough to take his beer with him when he went to the crapper (inside joke).

The show was really good. I'll discuss in another post in depth but...

Had lunch with Des, Nes, Twin, Androgenic, Jordan on Friday. I expected Des to be more vocal. He is actually a pretty soft spoken and nice guy. Steve is absolutely an attorney. I mean...if I didn't know it, and someone asked me...I'd for sure say, "Steve is an attorney" - infer as you like

John Lee stopped by with Clay & Doris (Doris is HOT! Clay...what is she doing with you?). John seemed to be suffering from a bout of melancholy and dysphoria. I don't think anyone else really saw him all weekend. You OK, "Great Jungle Cat?"

Kathy from **** came by...her husband conveniently "got lost" - heh. She looks great.

I met Bill and Catherine. Catherine is the NICEST person. She absolutely gets the NICEST person award for the Expo. Bill is very lucky.

I actually gave away 24 boxes of Thyrotabs (shhhh...do not tell JV) instead of the 10 I promised. I just grabbed a box. Took all of 10 seconds though on Friday morning.

Unfortunately, I did not get to spend as much time at our booth as I would have liked. I got trapped into beatings....err...."meetings" all weekend so I am sorry. Plus, because I am retarded and had chicken at Morton's (I know, who eats chicken in a steak joint?) I got really sick Saturday morning and I could not shake it.

I do want to thank Ted Joiner and Dana White for the AWESOMEST seats for the UFC fight on Saturday night. Randy Couture is THE MAN! He dominated Tim Sylvia the entire 5 rounds and took the fight to the big man.

All the guys at Europa (especially Big E, Robbie and David) - you guys had a killer booth with WAY too much food! Free advice to other supplement companies out there - if you ever have the chance to sit down one-on-one with Eric Hillman (Big E) from Europa, do not miss the chance. Pick his brain, he is about the most knowledgable and smartest guy in the industry when it comes to business strategy. Do not talk...just listen and take notes, OK?

I had a chance to talk with Big E a few times over the weekend and hang out with him pretty much one on one and I learned more than a few things.

All the folks at GNC (Tim Bentley, Dave Florian, Diane Ober, Jennifer Carroll...who did I miss?) - thanks a million for all the meetings we had with you folks. There is a very good reason why GNC is "the largest specialty retailer of any kind" in America and this team is part of it. Gaspari Nutrition won an award at the GNC banquet for "Fastest Growing Company in 2006" and we anticipate we're going to repeat that performance for 2007.


Heck...looks like I do not have to make a different post after all.

Oh yeah...Rick Collins, Dimaggio...Gann...Feldstein - you guys are the "dream team" - thanks for making THAT MEETING happen. Looks like we're going to have some earth shattering industry announcements to make soon, he?

Matt/DSADE...sorry I did not have time to meet longer with you, I would have really liked to. Gut/Goot (how do you say it?) actually helped me out a little over the weekend

Vance Andrich and Ryan Hornbuck from SFR (who did not have a booth and I ran into...literally smashed into on Friday night at 1AM in front of the hotel)...you're playing with fire but man...like the bug drawn to the blue light...you have the BEST packaging for your products I have seen in a long time. For people who dig the "prohormone" thing SFR has some killer stuff planned and I got to see it first (or at least "first" as in the first couple of dozen of people). You guys couldn't comp me a box of Oxyguno though eh? Cheap f*cks!

Anyhow...$500 in cash to the first person with a high rezzie photo of Patrick Arnold and I shaking hands for the first time on Friday. It will be used in a forthcoming advertisement so it needs to be a good picture.

I can't say too much more because the "i's" have to be dotted and the "t's" have to be crossed BUT...look for a revision to a product bearing the Gaspari moniker that has input from Bill from Molecular, Patrick from Ergopharm/Proviant and yours truly.

Yes...on Saturday, Hell officially froze over and Planet Earth stopped rotating.

It's on. So all you supplement users out there...you're gonna love this thing when it happens and all you jealous haters from shady companies...buy your funeral plots because the unthinkable is happening...the wheels are in motion and you other company guys...be very, very, VERY afraid.

So I need that picture...who needs five hundred simoleans?!?


BK

[UberBerzerker]

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

The show was really good. I'll discuss in another post in depth but...

this wasn't ''in depth'' ?? holy crap... Well, at least you didn't get off topic from the original reason for the post

[Kohen_Gadol]

Originally Posted by UberBerzerker

this wasn't ''in depth'' ?? holy crap... Well, at least you didn't get off topic from the original reason for the post

I noticed you read the whole post though

[Skigazzi]

Sounds like a good time...I'll have to hit vegas one year soon...

[user178944]

wow, cliff notes?

[UberBerzerker]

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

I noticed you read the whole post though

I also look for blood at highway accidents....it's called morbid curiosity

[UberBerzerker]

p.s.

I have a substitute picture for you to use....

[bongd]

Damn, sounds like you had a good time!

[Viperspit]

Meh, I couldn't remember my own frickin camera let alone getting a pic of you guys

Nice write-up Bruce, sounds like some great things to come for all of us!

p.s. I swear I tried several times to see you. I said fuk it in the Triple H mob that Kathy got thru (she just pushes people out of her way), and I turned around.

[Cholitzu]

Originally Posted by UberBerzerker

p.s.

I have a substitute picture for you to use....

hahahahahaahahha

[Kohen_Gadol]

The very first person I met whom I had not met before was Mike McCandless (Thursday night at Morton's) - Mike's actually a good guy and his physique transformation is going to be an inspiration for me to get off my fat azz and lose about 50 pounds or more. Sorry to hear about your truck engine, Mike.

[factotum]

Even if someone has a crappy cell phone pic please post it here. Soudns like you had a great time and it's always interesting to hear your assessments of products and people.

[dtrain13]

LOL!!!

Cats and dogs playing together!!!

[Robboe]

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

I met Bill and Catherine. Catherine is the NICEST person.

Seconded.

[Kohen_Gadol]

Originally Posted by wanderlei

Even if someone has a crappy cell phone pic please post it here. Soudns like you had a great time and it's always interesting to hear your assessments of products and people.

Patrick and I have been at each other's throats for over a dozen years now. This hasn't helped either of us and it hasn't helped the consumer. It has only helped shady marketing companies selling questionable products.

Not every collaboration project I have tried has worked out well either.
I'm not pointing fingers but trying to work with ALR just didn't pan out for Gaspari. I wish them well (and I really like FnF and Viper too - if they ever leave **** and do not come and talk to me first I will be seriously annoyed!).

However, despite a lot of skepticism from many sources Gaspari and Molecular
were able to come together and work constructively on a product that sold out in GNC in 3 weeks. I have not always gotten along well with Bill L., either.
But this worked very well for both companies and is still working very well for both companies although I must admit Catherine from Molecular is and was a HUGE part why its working so well.

So this got me thinking....

I do not know if this very small step in a constructive and positive direction between Ergopharm/Proviant and Gaspari will work or not. I am very confident that it will. I am going to try my best to insure it will. And even if it does not this should not preclude us from trying again in the future.

Why burn bridges and close doors? Who benefits from any of this?

So you will soon see a supplement under the Gaspari brand that has input/license from both Bill/MN and Patrick/Ergopharm. In all honesty, these two guys are contributing a lot more technically than I am. My role is far more political and project management oriented (although I do have my fingers in this a little bit). Patrick is easily the best pure/organic chemist ever in the industry and I can't think of too many people who know more about the physiological processes surrounding inflammation than Bill from MN.

Me? I'm just trying to be the glue that holds this entire thing together.

But when it works (not "if") I think the consumer will benefit quite a bit from all this. And I'd even like to potentially expand this "axis" a bit more too - I'd like to try to pull MC from DS into something if possible in the future too.

If we do not band together in a solid front we're probably going to lose a lot of the liberties we have under DSHEA. I think the best way to get us all together is to make it financially lucrative for all people involved. Part of something is always better than all of nothing.

So while I might take a "backseat" on the formulation side of things for awhile I am absolutely going to be wearing my "strategist" hat to try to get these type of joint projects between multiple companies together.

I am sure I will hit many a brick wall and a lot of skepticism. That's just fine by me. In the end, when it is done, we'll see who has the last laugh.

And I still need a good photo of Patrick and I shaking hands.

Anyone? FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS!!!!

[AtownKing187]

If i woulda went.. I'd give u he darn thing for free if...i had went...damn me..lol

On a side note..It's great to hear that such great companies will be joining forces and working together, instead of against...for a change.

[Kohen_Gadol]

Originally Posted by UberBerzerker

I also look for blood at highway accidents....it's called morbid curiosity

You can't help yourself, eh?

[Outside backer]

Originally Posted by AtownKing187

If i woulda went.. I'd give u he darn thing for free if...i had went...damn me..lol

On a side note..It's great to hear that such great companies will be joining forces and working together, instead of against...for a change.

**** that id charge a grand

[UberBerzerker]

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

You can't help yourself, eh?

You always manage to spin quite a yarn, BK. I do like to read your ramblings

[QUOTE=Kohen_Gadol;24898021]

So this got me thinking....

Why burn bridges and close doors? Who benefits from any of this?

Me? I'm just trying to be the glue that holds this entire thing together.

But when it works (not "if") I think the consumer will benefit quite a bit from all this. And I'd even like to potentially expand this "axis" a bit more too - I'd like to try to pull MC from DS into something if possible in the future too.

If we do not band together in a solid front we're probably going to lose a lot of the liberties we have under DSHEA. I think the best way to get us all together is to make it financially lucrative for all people involved. Part of something is always better than all of nothing.
QUOTE]

I have been saying the same thing and couldnt agree with you more. We need to regulate ourselves before someone else steps in and destroys DSHEA.

[Kohen_Gadol]

Originally Posted by Sldgehmr

I have been saying the same thing and couldnt agree with you more. We need to regulate ourselves before someone else steps in and destroys DSHEA.

Amen!

[Mr. Aries]

hi bk,

glad to have seen you again at the arnold.. I was dieting (6 weeks into my diet, 6 more weeks to go), and I was worried about someone back home. Understandably, I was not very cheerful most of the weekend because of those two..

It was still nice to see everyone though, even if I did feel out of place once again.. Amid all the super-tight super-colorful outfits and quite frankly the ugliest display of sand-paper skin, I felt like I was on another planet.

I think hardcore bodybuilding, at the extremes it is today, is a turn-off to me. I've never seen more delts that needed to be drained of whatever foreign fluid is stuck in them.. I've never seen more angular jaws, on both men and women... I've never seen a more sad display of the need for attention.. Day 1 I wore a track suit.. Day 2 I wore a jacket... Both days, 80% of everyone else had on things that made me wonder if the halloween chains had a fire sale next door..


Still, the majority of the people I met were very nice. I enjoyed conversing with people from around the country, and Clay and his lovely girlfriend were very nice to hang out with. The rest of the time, I drank my servings of Infusion, sampled bars/drinks, and tried my best to stick to a diet that was not tailored around Columbus food.

[ncangey0513]

Originally Posted by Mr. Aries

hi bk,

glad to have seen you again at the arnold.. I was dieting (6 weeks into my diet, 6 more weeks to go), and I was worried about someone back home. Understandably, I was not very cheerful most of the weekend because of those two..

It was still nice to see everyone though, even if I did feel out of place once again.. Amid all the super-tight super-colorful outfits and quite frankly the ugliest display of sand-paper skin, I felt like I was on another planet.

I think hardcore bodybuilding, at the extremes it is today, is a turn-off to me. I've never seen more delts that needed to be drained of whatever foreign fluid is stuck in them.. I've never seen more angular jaws, on both men and women... I've never seen a more sad display of the need for attention.. Day 1 I wore a track suit.. Day 2 I wore a jacket... Both days, 80% of everyone else had on things that made me wonder if the halloween chains had a fire sale next door..


Still, the majority of the people I met were very nice. I enjoyed conversing with people from around the country, and Clay and his lovely girlfriend were very nice to hang out with. The rest of the time, I drank my servings of Infusion, sampled bars/drinks, and tried my best to stick to a diet that was not tailored around Columbus food.

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!!

[Twin Peak]

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

Had lunch with Des, Nes, Twin, Androgenic, Jordan on Friday. I expected Des to be more vocal. He is actually a pretty soft spoken and nice guy. Steve is absolutely an attorney. I mean...if I didn't know it, and someone asked me...I'd for sure say, "Steve is an attorney" - infer as you like

Cool, so I have come full circle since the time who you thought I was lying about being a lawyer eh?

It was good seeing you again too, and thanks for lunch!

[Mr. Aries]

Originally Posted by Twin Peak

Cool, so I have come full circle since the time who you thought I was lying about being a lawyer eh?

It was good seeing you again too, and thanks for lunch!

you bastard.. I didn't see you again all weekend

[Kumquatv1]

I think this is great.

All the good companies like Gaspari, Ergopharm, ALR, Controlled Labs, and MAN should work together to bury the shady frauds out there.

Group hug everyone?

[Kohen_Gadol]

Originally Posted by Twin Peak

Cool, so I have come full circle since the time who you thought I was lying about being a lawyer eh?

It was good seeing you again too, and thanks for lunch!

No, in person you have "attorney" written all over you, Steve.

As for lunch...my pleasure!

[Twin Peak]

Originally Posted by Mr. Aries

you bastard.. I didn't see you again all weekend

You were clearly avoiding me....

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

No, in person you have "attorney" written all over you, Steve.

As for lunch...my pleasure!

Well now you just can't leave it open ended like that, do share -- what are my "tells" Mr. Poker.

[Free Weight Friedel]

Originally Posted by Kohen_Gadol

The very first person I met whom I had not met before was Mike McCandless (Thursday night at Morton's) - Mike's actually a good guy and his physique transformation is going to be an inspiration for me to get off my fat azz and lose about 50 pounds or more. Sorry to hear about your truck engine, Mike.

You forgot to mention meeting me!

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...riBK3-2-07.jpg


LOL J/K

[7Happy7]

how would this even work? Person post pic, you dont have to pay. You pay, person doesnt send pic.. lol try doing a google search, it might be up.