Ah, what a sweet pun, eh?
So yesterday was interesting. I got a random call from Bruno Taillefer, the General Manager of Cintas for Quebec. He first saw me when I was on the cover of Le Journal de Montreal on November 25 wearing a Cintas shirt. For one reason or another, Bruno's been trying to track down a guy named "Ricky who works for Cintas in Vancouver" ever since.
Bruno told me that nobody out at Cintas in Vancouver could place a guy named Ricky. That's because (here's where it gets tricky) the husband of my cousin Carmen (Ricky) gave me the shirt as a bit of a joke. Ricky used to live in Little Rock Arkansas, and supplemented his income as the star quarterback of the Arkansas Twisters arena football team with sales work for Cintas.
This summer, when I was back in Vancouver for a couple of weeks, Ricky gave me the Cintas shirt as "a gift". His face broke out into a big grin when I pulled "his" work shirt out of the box and said the obligatory tongue-in-cheek "Gee Rick, thanks a lot! It's what I've always wanted!" He thought the joke was on me, but I put the shirt on immediately, and after making more than half a dozen trades and appearing on international TV in "Ricky's" shirt, it's safe to say the joke is now on Ricky.
Anyhow, back to Bruno in Montreal. I'd never spoken to Bruno before yesterday. He called me out of the blue. The whole thing happened 'organically', as they say - which is how this whole project has evolved.
Amazingly enough, I've got all the press for one red paperclip by making ZERO calls or emails to any of the media outlets listed on the press page. I haven't sent out a press release and I don't have a publicity company working for me. All I've done is put my personal info on the contact page and I just say yes to everyone who asks for an interview. Then, if need be, I show up somewhere and have a chat with whoever wants to talk about one red paperclip, whether it be a local newspaper, a small podcast, or CNN.
I said yes to Bruno's offer of a free dinner and we met up last night. Bruno said that he'd like to clean the "Ricky" shirt for me and even make some 'enhancements' to it as well. I was quick to say yes to the offer for free laundry. (I always take somebody up on a free laundry offer)
Safe to say the shirt will be cleaned and 'enhanced' for my trip to Los Angeles betwen the 7th to 11th of Jan.
Stay tuned for more on this. Bruno's a bit of a character and we came up with some pretty rad ideas on how Cintas can be part of one red paperclip - besides just free laundry service. I feel like this is a perfect match, Cintas and I. After all, I do need an official trading uniform, and the folks at Cintas are 'The Uniform People".
I knew from the moment he looked at me straight in the eye with a mischevious grin on his face and said, "Kyle, we're going to have fun with this.", that Bruno was exactly the type of guy I want to be a big part of one red paperclip. The free beer with dinner helped too.
Yes, Virginia, free laundry = a free plug. (Thanks for saving me no less than six shiny quarters at the coin laundry Bruno!) You can learn all about Cintas' at their website: www.cintas.com
I am not a Cintas company representative. I do not work for Cintas. I have never worked for Cintas. My name is Kyle, not Ricky. I have not played professional arena football. Yet.
Oh, and a word to all of you who think I've gone NASCAR or I'm "selling out". Wrong. I'm "trading out". There is no amount of money you can offer me to appear on this website. None. Seriously. I will not put up your ad for Coke or Nike even if you offer me one million dollars. Try me - I dare you. The only way I will ever post anything even remotely resembling an ad or banner exchange on this website will be if you help out the project in some way shape or form.
You can help out one red paperclip in four ways:
1. Offer a product or service that is vital to the continuation of the project. (like Bruno's free Cintas laundry)
2. Have your company's trade offer accepted. (Like Jeff Cooper and the gang at SnoRidersWest Magazine)
3. Have your very own bigger or better trading game for charity like the one the guys at CFOX or The Edge held before Christmas.
4. Well, I haven't figured out a fourth way yet, maybe you should just send me your idea.
(please note: google adsense doesn't apply to my sellout/trade-out promise. I need to eat. Unfortunately, I don't think Bruno will take me out for dinner every night.)
And to answer your question, the answer is yes. Yes, beer is a service vital to the continuation of one red paperclip. A very vital service. I think we can all agree on that.
Cintas-tic
Ah, what a sweet pun, eh?
So yesterday was interesting. I got a random call from Bruno Taillefer, the General Manager of Cintas for Quebec. He first saw me when I was on the cover of Le Journal de Montreal on November 25 wearing a Cintas shirt. For one reason or another, Bruno's been trying to track down a guy named "Ricky who works for Cintas in Vancouver" ever since.
Bruno told me that nobody out at Cintas in Vancouver could place a guy named Ricky. That's because (here's where it gets tricky) the husband of my cousin Carmen (Ricky) gave me the shirt as a bit of a joke. Ricky used to live in Little Rock Arkansas, and supplemented his income as the star quarterback of the Arkansas Twisters arena football team with sales work for Cintas.
This summer, when I was back in Vancouver for a couple of weeks, Ricky gave me the Cintas shirt as "a gift". His face broke out into a big grin when I pulled "his" work shirt out of the box and said the obligatory tongue-in-cheek "Gee Rick, thanks a lot! It's what I've always wanted!" He thought the joke was on me, but I put the shirt on immediately, and after making more than half a dozen trades and appearing on international TV in "Ricky's" shirt, it's safe to say the joke is now on Ricky.
Anyhow, back to Bruno in Montreal. I'd never spoken to Bruno before yesterday. He called me out of the blue. The whole thing happened 'organically', as they say - which is how this whole project has evolved.
Amazingly enough, I've got all the press for one red paperclip by making ZERO calls or emails to any of the media outlets listed on the press page. I haven't sent out a press release and I don't have a publicity company working for me. All I've done is put my personal info on the contact page and I just say yes to everyone who asks for an interview. Then, if need be, I show up somewhere and have a chat with whoever wants to talk about one red paperclip, whether it be a local newspaper, a small podcast, or CNN.
I said yes to Bruno's offer of a free dinner and we met up last night. Bruno said that he'd like to clean the "Ricky" shirt for me and even make some 'enhancements' to it as well. I was quick to say yes to the offer for free laundry. (I always take somebody up on a free laundry offer)
Safe to say the shirt will be cleaned and 'enhanced' for my trip to Los Angeles betwen the 7th to 11th of Jan.
Stay tuned for more on this. Bruno's a bit of a character and we came up with some pretty rad ideas on how Cintas can be part of one red paperclip - besides just free laundry service. I feel like this is a perfect match, Cintas and I. After all, I do need an official trading uniform, and the folks at Cintas are 'The Uniform People".
I knew from the moment he looked at me straight in the eye with a mischevious grin on his face and said, "Kyle, we're going to have fun with this.", that Bruno was exactly the type of guy I want to be a big part of one red paperclip. The free beer with dinner helped too.
Yes, Virginia, free laundry = a free plug. (Thanks for saving me no less than six shiny quarters at the coin laundry Bruno!) You can learn all about Cintas' at their website: www.cintas.com
I am not a Cintas company representative. I do not work for Cintas. I have never worked for Cintas. My name is Kyle, not Ricky. I have not played professional arena football. Yet.
Oh, and a word to all of you who think I've gone NASCAR or I'm "selling out". Wrong. I'm "trading out". There is no amount of money you can offer me to appear on this website. None. Seriously. I will not put up your ad for Coke or Nike even if you offer me one million dollars. Try me - I dare you. The only way I will ever post anything even remotely resembling an ad or banner exchange on this website will be if you help out the project in some way shape or form.
You can help out one red paperclip in four ways:
1. Offer a product or service that is vital to the continuation of the project. (like Bruno's free Cintas laundry)
2. Have your company's trade offer accepted. (Like Jeff Cooper and the gang at SnoRidersWest Magazine)
3. Have your very own bigger or better trading game for charity like the one the guys at CFOX or The Edge held before Christmas.
4. Well, I haven't figured out a fourth way yet, maybe you should just send me your idea.
(please note: google adsense doesn't apply to my sellout/trade-out promise. I need to eat. Unfortunately, I don't think Bruno will take me out for dinner every night.)
And to answer your question, the answer is yes. Yes, beer is a service vital to the continuation of one red paperclip. A very vital service. I think we can all agree on that.
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