The Art of Arrival

by Kris Pitcher

In my line of business I meet with a lot of people. There is an art to arriving at just the right time. You don't want to be too early. You don't want to seem over anxious. It's never advisable to be late, ever.

Arriving at just the right time creates the atmosphere of promptness, without being early or late. It's tricky because I don't always know where I'm going. I may not know how the traffic will be, or where I'll find parking...if I'll need to walk a few blocks. Or, if I may get lost along the way.

Taking all those things into account and then having a few moments to take a deep breath and collect my thoughts prior to a meeting is the "art" of the arrival. Getting to your contest - peaking at the right moment in time is similar.

You never want to be late. If you're late, well you've missed your opportunity. If you're not ready for your show you can always select another show. But, sometimes the local show is the only one, and you've committed. You need to arrive on time.

If you're early you really only want to be a little bit early. Kind of like for my appointments. If you are a little bit early, you can slow things down. You can figuratively park around the block and wait 5 or 10 minutes for just the right moment.

But if you show up days early for an appointment, people are going to wonder about your planning. Getting it right is the art. It's important to be able to time things out. To be able to make changes slowly and appropriately in order to get there at the right moment.

There are a lot of components to manipulate along the way. You don't manipulate them all at once, all at the beginning. You have to create the right atmosphere. This is where science meets art and it's all in the arrival. I'll see you when you get there!