Laura Schwartz - Eat, Drink and Succeed

EAT, DRINK &SUCCEED
Climb Your Way to the Top Using theNetworking Power of Social Events

by
Laura Schwartz

Smashwords Edition

Published on Smashwordsby:
Black Ox Press
North America
www.blackoxpress.com

Eat, Drink & Succeed
Copyright 2010 by Laura Schwartz

Digital ISBN-13: 978-0-9827591-0-3
Digital ISBN-10: 098275910X

Edited by Amy Carr
Copyedited by Mike Burke
Cover Design by Carrmichael
Author Photograph by John Reilly
Interior Design by Zach Dodson

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Smashwords Edition LicenseNotes
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To Mom, Dad and Andra, who encourage me toclimb at every rung of my lifes ladder.

Thank you for being my guides and safety netbelow.

My most important title doesnt have TheWhite House in front of it or even a seal that goes with it, asnothing makes me prouder than to be a daughter and sister. Whetherbeing called Denny and Judys daughter or Andras sister, I amso blessed. Mom, Dad and Andrea, you have all taught me how toclimb to my goals with perseverance, respect and gratitude bybringing me along on your ladders, sharing your bridges andteaching me how to build mine. I am forever thankful.

I also gained an entire family in mypublisher, the Black Ox Press. To my editor Amy Carr, you havetaken my voice and put it to paper as only a seasoned writer,mentor and friend could do. I respect you for your professionaltalents and personable approach. You asked questions, challenged myanswers and made me a better person and this, a better book. Thanksto my copy editor Mike Burke, who took every comma, space and wordseriously. To Carrmichael Design Michael, youre talented andtough. I learned from you and about myself along the way. Thanks toyour team, Lucia Keller and Jason Hendricks. To Zach Dodson, thankyou for your time and talents as they are reflected throughout thepages. And to Carson and Zach, thanks for your parents. You guysare an awesome reflection of them both.

To President and Secretary Clinton: I wouldnever have been 19 growing up in the White House ranks without yoursupport. You looked past my age and instead at my attitude, workand results. You taught me more than I could have ever learned froma textbook, including its not just what youre saying, its whyyou are saying it that counts, and that conversation isntsomething you just have its something you invest in. I learnedabout helping others, to believe in myself and the world. And inthat same respect, you showed me the world. Thank you.

To the White House Staff, working alongsideyou was both a personal and professional life-changing experience.Most especially to the volunteers, you adopted me into all yourfamilies and, with inspired dedication, each did the work of twostaff members. To the White House Ushers Office, Residence Staffand Operations guys you truly are the backbone of history andalways had my back. I love you all!

To Larry King, whether on air or incommercial break our conversations were fun and sitting across fromyou, priceless.

To Sir David Frost, the BBC, OxfordUniversity, Al Hurra and GMTV UK: You allow a girl from Wisconsinto speak with the world and I treasure all of your accents. Thankyou.

Thanks to Fox News Channel, its line-up andmy producers you always pushed me to be prepared and Im strongerfor it.

To Joe Scarborough, having you introduce mewith that game-day announcers voice is always exciting!

To the CBS Early Show, thanks for theTrail Mix, and the opportunity to transition from policy,strategy and percentages to actual people, passion and popculture.

To my wonderful family and friends! FromChicago to Ireland, Australia and beyond, thank you for yoursupport and for being such an important part of my life.

To the reader! Thanks for giving this book,which I have thought about every day since January 2001, a place onyour coffee table, office or bathroom. Wherever this is, Im,thrilled!

OPRAH WINFREY DID IT.

Steven Spielberg did it.

Laura Schwartz from small-town Plymouth,Wis., did it. And now its time for you to do it, too.

I may not have much in common with theworlds most powerful television host and an Academy Award-winningmovie mogul, but all three of us have found life-changingopportunity in unlikely places. Oprah mapped out her future on anapkin while on a date at Hamburger Hamlet. Spielberg cooked up theidea for DreamWorks while socializing at a White House statedinner. And I went from answering phones to producing the Presidenton the world stage every day.

We all knew that as social and ordinary asany situation appears, its business. And by the time you finishthis book, you, too, will be able to unleash The Networking Powerof Social Events. Its a lesson I was fortunate enough to learn onone of the most high-profile stages in the world the White Housein Washington, D.C.

My transition from a volunteer who answeredphones to the point person behind more than 1,000 White Houseevents, including 12 state dinners and the nations Millennialcelebration, was made possible by my ability to harness my socialpower. My story may be unique, but my ability to turn conversationinto opportunity is not. One thing Ive learned from my fabulousfriends, colleagues and mentors all over the world is each one ofus is powerful and were all social. The secret is knowing when,where and how to use that power to reach your goals or to helpsomeone else reach theirs.

While watching, listening and being a partof conversations and deals that took place behind the scenes atWhite House events over eight years, I discovered the fine linebetween business and pleasure has long been erased. A state dinnerat the White House, aside from the fact that its black-tie and themost coveted party invitation in the political power scene, isnothing more than a business meeting disguised in Versace andArmani. At these events, major deals were clinched even before thePresident and visiting head of state asked everyone to raise theirglasses for the first ceremonial toast.

One of the most notable examples of thisoccurred at the Sept. 29, 1994, state dinner for then RussianPresident Boris Yeltsin. Three guests Steven Spielberg, DavidGeffen and Jeffery Katzenberg who had been invited separately,found themselves talking through dinner and late into the nightabout their common interests. Thirteen days later, they announcedone of the biggest partnerships and film studios of all time,DreamWorks. Spielberg recalled the night in his 1999 biographySteven Spielberg: A Biography by Joseph McBride: Were intuxedos talking about a brand new studio and just across from ustheres Yeltsin and Bill Clinton talking about disarming the worldof nuclear weapons.

But you dont have to be at a state dinnerto make a powerful networking connection.

For Oprah, the most important change of hercareer came about as the result of some doodles on a napkin at aHamburger Hamlet restaurant. Those doodles came from none otherthan Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, who took Oprahto the hamburger joint on a date years ago when she was hosting