I chose to work this event based on what another driver told me about the same show that happened in September of last year. The announced attendance is never really that high but he said he got paid and I trust his judgment. This is an event I went in blind for. I never worked one before and didn’t know what kind of money to expect. I can say that this event was very lucrative across all 3 days, the first one being the best. On the 13th is when the Home Show was added to the mix and as each day that I worked went on, my tally at the end of each went up rather than down. That’s an unusual trend but I did have a trick up my sleeve to make it happen.
I arrived at the show on the 12th around 8:45am. It opened at 9am. It was only me and one other driver from another company out there. I was surprised to see the parking lot as full as it was. It was all exhibitors. One of them had a lot of boxes and I got that ride. Another had a suitcase full of heavy as hell catalogs. And when I say heavy, I mean heavy. She wasn’t far from the exhibitor entrance door but her rolling suitcase wasn’t gonna be able to handle that shit. Nor was she. I couldn’t lift it on my own. I had to get a stranger to help put it on my pedicab and another driver helped me take it off. I got a decent tip out of it for such a short distance.
When the doors opened and people started flooding in, more drivers came. I didn’t bother with the parking lot. One, there were too many drivers out there to compete with. They were getting rides but I wasn’t in the mood to go through the usual solicitation rounds for chump change. And two, I was getting my rides all by myself someplace else with no competition. When some drivers dropped off, they saw me going away from the parking lot. They asked where I was going. I didn’t say because I didn’t want nobody fucking up my grift. I can talk about it now though. In the past, the Surf Expo took place in the South Concourse and a lot of people made the mistake of going to the wrong concourse this time around rather than reading the signs or doing their homework ahead of time. I took advantage of that and got most of my rides for the first couple of hours, and still throughout the day, from people walking to the correct side of the convention center after going to the wrong one.
The walk from the parking lot isn’t nearly as far as it is from one side of the building to the other. When you mention distance in your pitch (and you don’t wanna over-exaggerate), that can result in a ride and bigger tips and I milked it for as long as I could until it dried up. Some other drivers caught on and got some rides but that was later in the day when they weren’t back to back like when I was doing it early in the day. At that point, I had to hit the parking lot for rides. Lots of skateboarders and hot chicks at this one. Lots of what were clearly potheads too. You could actually smell the bud when passing cars by. Some people looked and dressed as stereotypical tokers with the hemp clothing, hippie appearance, squinted eyes, and slow speech. But hey, if they got money for drugs, then they got money to take a ride on a pedicab. In this case, rather than money being improperly spent funding the drug cartels, at least some of it was properly put back into the US economy. Hell, I got one ride on this weekend from a group who took the ride very specifically to stimulate the economy and support small business. It was part of my pitch and it worked. If not for that, they wouldn’t have hopped on.
It was pretty busy for the most part and even South parking got halfway filled up. I predicted that there’d be a mad rush of people coming out when this ended and I was right. That was due to there being a party at the House of Blues later that night. There was the lull that’s to be expected at any convention. Some drivers continued to troll the parking lot for rides coming in and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But when you’re gonna be working a whole weekend for what’s clearly a busy convention, you wanna conserve your energy for that and for the fact that it was gonna be gangbusters when it ended for the day. And when it ended, boy, it ended just the way I predicted.
It was a stream of people coming from both sides of the North Concourse. Non-stop rides for about 2 hours. Big tips too, because most people were going back to their hotels; mainly the Hilton and Rosen Centre. I did setup some callbacks by handing out business cards. This is something I’m slowly but surely getting the hang of because you increase your chances of a ride and a bigger tip over waiting for a ride or solicitations. If someone wants my biz card and they tip me small, I don’t bother anymore. If they tip me big, then they get my card because I know they’re gonna hook me up. I had a situation where there were 2 callbacks. One was a big tipper, the other a small. I was waiting to pick up small tipper but big tipper called and was ready right away in front of me. Guess who I took? I was initially handing out my cards to anyone that asked but not anymore. I tell the small tippers that there are other drivers out and about. That frees me up for a chance at getting a better ride and tip.
Another thing that’s happening is that some drivers don’t wanna talk to me since they discovered my blog. They don’t like that I talk about the business, customers, or the possibility of me talking about them. Regular readers know I don’t mention names or other personally identifying info. Tough shit on them because this blog ain’t goin’ nowhere. It’s been here before any of them were doing anything with pedicabs. What they don’t realize is that they’re fucking themselves. When a situation occurs that I’m not available to give a ride to a callback, and it’s happened, I would normally call someone else to take the ride in my place. But since some of them are idiots and like to feed into a few people’s drama, I don’t bother with them anymore either. That’s them losing money because they wanna run with the herd or kiss someone’s ass. I’m here to spread the wealth, not horde it or reject it. In this biz, you wanna make contacts and keep the ones that have proven to be good ones. They hook you up, you hook them up, everyone looking out for each other and working together. Those that wanna cause drama can stay the hell away from me and I’ll pass money on to those who want and deserve it. Plenty of it to go around.
There was a fresh face that showed up for day one. He’s a new driver on property but he has experience and his own pedicab. A very nice and big one (maybe too big) at that. Went through the same rounds I did to get started. Glad to see him and I hope he’s successful although he has to learn when to pass rides up to the person in front of the line instead of taking them for himself but all things come in due time. If you want your own business and want all the money to yourself without paying rent to others, you can do it. The weather was perfect on day one but I didn’t bring enough food and it wore on me in the last 2 hours. There were still streams of people leaving from the other side of the building and there were other non-permitted drivers out there scooping them up from the sidewalk but for me, I was done. I needed to live to fight another day and let them all have the money that was out there. 6:30pm was my cut-off time for this weekend of events.
The next day I arrived even earlier, at 8:15am, and that was due to me taking so many rides to the Hilton the day before and man, they tip fucking good. Plenty of exhibitors were out early and I even got repeat business from some that I gave a ride to the day before. People going to the wrong concourse was still an issue but not nearly as many were taking rides. The 13th had the benefit of having 2 big conventions for us to make money at but realistically, it was still a weekday and the Home Show is mostly locals. It wasn’t that busy on the South end. But I did make some extra money by incorporating a strategy that I can’t talk about here. Let’s just say that when a convention or event comes to town, you gotta know what’s taking place and where. You gotta know what they may be offering attendees and when and how. I always do my homework before a convention and my eyes and ears are always open. There was an opportunity available for me to make even more money and I took it and I made that money. The Surf Expo was still busy but not as busy as the day prior.
When it wasn’t busy for the Surf Expo, we had the option of getting rides for the Home Show but there just weren’t a lot of cars for that one. My strategy helped me out and while everyone else wasn’t doing much of shit, I was getting paid. It’s that very strategy that no doubt made me more money as each day passed. About the only thing I can say about it is when you’re being offered a better deal that can save you time and money, you’d be a fool not to take it. Why pay more and waste time when you don’t have to? Some people are just stupid like that but if you got the time and money to waste, hey, go for it. Part of the problem is having a dumb partner. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it happen where the guy knows a deal when he sees it and wants to take it but his chick says no and he misses out because he got with the wrong person.
A couple and their baby went to the South side by mistake, thinking the Surf Expo was taking place there. The guy, pushing the baby stroller, saw me and flagged me down for a ride. It’s a very long walk over there and really, it ain’t about the walk, it’s about the time it takes to get there. You’ve already wasted a lot of time by going to the wrong place, why waste more? Sometimes you gotta come out of pocket to save time. Add to the fact they’ve already walked quite a bit and would walk quite a bit more to get to the entrance and then walk even more once inside. Time spent walking outside is time missed inside which is where you really wanna be. Maybe this is something he realized and wanted to take the ride. But oh no, she was against it. She’d been in an accident on a pedicab before and didn’t wanna do it and was very adamant about it. He kept pleading and coercing but it didn’t work. She won despite me letting them know that I was insured and that if I wasn’t safe and legit, I wouldn’t be allowed on property.
Lemme tell you something right now, I think it’s pretty well known that women aren’t the best decision makers. That’s why men have all the power in the world while women have a valuable commodity (pussy) that could give them all the power but they don’t know how to use it the right way. For me and most men, it boils down to logic. For women, it boils down to emotion. So she got in an accident before. So what? That was before, not now. All the reassurances in the world didn’t help but if I was him, straight the fuck up and down, I woulda took the ride and left her ass to walk since that’s what she wanted to do. I ain’t even fucking kidding. I refuse to let anyone hold me back from doing what my logic is telling me is the right thing to do. I’m not gonna suffer because of someone else’s inability to make the right choice. I’d never be with that type of partner. I’d make sure that she sees most things the way I do to avoid conflict. There’d be no mixed messages when it came to something like this. He was ready to go, she wasn’t. My man, let her walk and learn her lesson. You’re the one with the sack, not her. You can’t do everything together and you could’ve met up with her when she finally got inside. I know exactly how it is when you’re with the wrong person and they cause you to miss out on opportunities. Never again.
I was pretty happy for one chick believe it or not. I dropped some people off at the Home Show and she was on the phone. She stopped me because she needed a ride. She realized she was on the wrong side of the building. While giving her that ride, she told me that she’d been wanting to go to the Surf Expo ever since she was a kid. I asked her how old she was. She was in her 30’s! She was excited by the sights and sounds along the way and I was glad to add to her experience. I don’t know how long the convention has been going on but they’ve got at least one super ecstatic new addition to their ranks. I do hope that they treated her well and that she had a good time inside. Peeping the floor plan online, the damn thing was huge. When I went inside to take pics, that confirmed it. I didn’t get to walk the floor like I wanted to though. Apparently some people were sneaking into the exhibitor entrance for free. Shouldn’t that be the fault of the badge attendant for not doing their job?
They had security shut it down for the most part. During show hours, no one was allowed in or out of the exhibitor entrance. They told us to drop off at the front or the stairs. I still could have gone in but there was too much money to be made outside and I didn’t wanna miss out. Plus this wasn’t just a one day thing or an easy event to work. I usually go in after hours when the cleaning people are doing their thing to look around in peace. But this was too massive to do in an acceptable amount of time because I still needed to get a good amount of sleep for the next day. Day two didn’t end the way the first one did. It ended quietly. No mad rush of people but still a decent stream, mostly exhibitors. I still left at my usual time. I wasn’t gonna wait around for 30 minutes to take one ride. I made my money. More than the previous day. I was happy.
I had some errands to run that night and that meant I didn’t get home in an acceptable amount of time so I slept in. Also, it was the last day of the Surf Expo and the last day is usually the slowest. But it was also the first weekend day for the Home Show and that meant it was gonna be busy on that end and it was. I arrived in time to take advantage of that and to apply my strategy but all good things must come to an end. A representative for the show wanted me to stop what I was doing and explained why. It was all cool and I obliged. I still made some good money before I stopped though.
I only got 2 big parties for the whole weekend. One was a group of 5 exhibitor guys coming from the Hilton for the Surf Expo. That load was over 1,000 pounds but I made it happen and they tipped me good. It was a spectacle because there were so many people out who saw it and they were enjoying it and making a scene. The other was a group of 4 going to the Home Show. Fat husbands. You know how that goes. That ride was tougher than the 5 guys but I still made that one happen too. A driver said he was getting hungry and wanted to go to lunch. He asked me when he should go. I told him when it’s not busy because when the money is there, you gotta be there to make it. The Home Show was busy and I did bring enough food on this day and the day before. The weather on the 13th was cooler than the 12th. The weather on the 14th was outright cold. Some drivers brought blankets for their passengers but that’s something I’m never gonna do. Smart people dress for the weather (and generally have more money) and a little breeze from a short pedicab ride ain’t gonna hurt nobody. But it’s a tool to use to obtain a bigger tip. If that works for them, go for it. Whatever works, use it.
I’m learning when to eat and when not to. I no longer take long breaks because my body is getting used to pedicab riding. Hopefully my ass will catch up and I’m talking about the one I sit on. Even with a memory foam seat, the cheeks can still hurt. I bring my own food and grab a quick bite when it’s slow or during the lull or when waiting in line. But never a full-on break anymore. I’m out there to make money, not spend it. Fruit, water, bananas, bread, and some form of protein is all it takes to survive a full day along with a protein-rich breakfast. On the 13th, they started giving out Rock Star energy drinks for free outside. Some drivers took them and consumed them. Then they started complaining about how tired they were later. They were also passing out 5 Hour Energy and on the last day of the Expo, they were giving out Red Bull. They know what that shit does to their body but chose to drink them anyway. I have no sympathy for anyone who took them shits and lost money because of it. Just because it’s free don’t mean you gotta take it. Put the right stuff in your body and pace yourself and you’ll last the day to make the money. And good sleep is the most important thing of all.
A situation occurred with a person I used to ride for. I was leaning against one of that person’s pedicabs and that person told me not to in a very condescending fashion. I told that person straight out, if I wanna touch your pedicabs, I will. And I continued to do so in front of that person. What the fuck are they gonna do about it? Nothing. I ain’t got time for people’s bullshit. That person’s drivers sit in my pedicab sometimes and I don’t give a shit. We’re all there to work together. Some people are clearly spiteful and jealous and in that person’s case, there’s no reason for it. You can be that way all you want. It don’t mean jack shit to me. I work for myself and I’m out there to make money. That’s it. Can’t get any simpler than that. That person’s drivers even compliment me on my blog because somehow they get wind of it and read it. And if any of them have any questions about anything or need advice, I’m here for some of them. Others are just hopeless and I don’t waste my time. You know who’s receptive to information and who’s not.
Not everyone is able to take advice though. Others aren’t even able to give it. A problem in that other company is communication. Not everyone gets along, not everyone knows how to communicate properly. I see it all the time. The owner should be promoting a team mentality instead of individuality but everyone knows that owner only truly gives a shit about one person. When they see themselves as competition and not as a team, there’s a problem. When a guy unaffiliated with pedicabs passes by and makes a rude comment about the owner who was there to hear it, there’s a bigger problem. Gotta be honest, that shit was funny. I do my best to change the mentality of the newer guys but people are who they are and some people just can’t be helped. A few of them do ask a lot of questions and they’ll probably go on to do good things whether it’s pedicabbing or not. When you don’t ask anyone anything, you’re depriving your brain of knowledge. When someone has what you want, wouldn’t you question them to find out how they got it? I know I do. I’m approachable so I’m always getting asked things and I’m always happy to share with those who I feel will use the info in a positive manner. I want prosperity for everyone.
Girls at the event? Do I even have to explain the amount of hot chicks that were here? It’s a fucking surfing convention for crying out loud. At the same time, there were an equal amount of nasty lookin’ bitches too. Some of them I wouldn’t even touch. Of all the hot broads that were here, only 2 stood out for me. One was dressed like a real woman. She looked professional, didn’t have all her shit hanging out, had a confident walk, and she was attractive. When anyone sees her, you see a woman, not a dumb bitch. I like that shit. You don’t get to see too many chicks that exude that level of class these days. Too bad she didn’t take a ride. Another was a chick who was very receptive and touchy feely that I did give a ride to. There was definite chemistry there and she was attractive. Too bad she was skipping town with her business partners (who were also passengers) on the last day. Otherwise, she’d have my business card. Hint hint.
One thing I noticed for this event that I never saw before was people parking off-property in the grass on the Vista Cay side for free. Those people rarely took rides in but did take rides out. I had several. On the way back for one, I remembered a security guard telling me a while back that there was a bathroom and water fountains in the warehouse out there. I found out where it was at and it’s very useful info to have and a nice, close place to discharge and refill on cold water without people or traffic around. It’s secluded. As a pedicab driver, the locations of bathrooms and cold water are places you need to know about. It’s vital. One driver saw a guy taking a leak in the damn parking lot and we all got some good laughs out of it. When you gotta go, you gotta go. I know how that shit goes.
At one point, I was in the mood to take it easy because I was already on track to exceed my goal. I went in for some pics at the Home Show and after that, I was the first and only one in line waiting for rides from the Surf Expo but I wasn’t putting in any effort to get them. If someone wanted a ride, they’d come to me and let me know. I was in such a relaxed state (completely unrelated to any contact smoke coming from any cars) that another driver who showed up behind me was offered first place. He didn’t want it. He said he was tired from a long ride. I could have easily just left the first position to go behind him and force him into first place but it was clear he really did need a break. The thing is, you gotta know where to take a break too. You could go somewhere where you won’t be bothered or you could go somewhere where you’ll still have time to relax but also have a chance to get a ride. That’s what we did. And we still got rides. And we were still able to relax. It’s called pacing yourself. That particular driver is experienced. He knows the drill but there ain’t too many drivers that are gonna say no to first place, I can guarantee you that. But I know where he was coming from.
As the Surf Expo ended, people were coming out with surfboards, paddle boards, skateboards, and all kinds of merchandise, big and small. Unfortunately, most chose to walk. It wasn’t anything like the first or second day. It kind of ended for us with a fizzle but when the exhibitors were leaving, they broke everything down and left through the loading dock that was blocked off so they could get all they’re display stuff out. Unlike at the PRI show, it was blocked off and we couldn’t get in there to get rides or try and convince them to use our pedicabs to move shit. At the same time, that whole area was a madhouse and hard to pass through. I was in the back of the line waiting for rides that just weren’t coming. It was dried up and I wanted to get one or 2 more rides before going home. The sun was still out since the show ended at 5pm.
I left the line to try and get some exhibitors but that didn’t work. Then on my way to the front, I got a ride to the Hilton with a good tip. One of the passengers asked if he could put some promotional stickers on my pedicab. I let him but after everything was done, I took them off. Free advertising with me won’t last long. You want more time and exposure, you gotta pay for it. When I went back for more rides, and I did get one more from a group of 20-somethings who didn’t know exactly where their car was, the line never moved. It was like the Capital One Bowl all over again. I don’t know why some of them don’t take the initiative to go out and seek rides when clearly waiting in line won’t make them any money. People were scattered about. You gotta go to them when it’s clear they’re not gonna come to you. You gotta know when to lead and not follow. And you gotta remember that too many people forget where they parked. I picked up a few people over the weekend who were lost and of course you get a tip for it. A ride is a ride. A tip is a tip. Instead of waiting in that line, you never know who’s gonna want a ride to the car that the parking spot for was forgotten. Part of our pitch is that we can help them find it. And we can. You gotta know when to use it.
Earlier, one driver who thinks my blog is disgusting (his words), picked up a beer from some guys who dropped one from their case that they took inside. They said he could have it. Not too soon after that, a group of raggedy lookin’ chicks needed a ride. He used the beer as a pitch. He was in second place and they rode with him simply because he let them have the beer. Kinda pathetic from a female’s perspective but as I always say, whatever you have to make yourself stand apart, use it. I forget which day it was but they were giving out free beer inside. Plenty of red plastic cups in people’s hands on that day. The only memento I got was a bag someone gave me. I took it because I could use it for groceries when I eventually make that move from plastic to reusable bags.
I only got one call back on the last day from a group of ladies at the Home Show but it was still a call back. That’s money someone else could have gotten or no one would have gotten. Slowly but surely I’m understanding the power of the business card and I’ll likely be expanding that at future events. I’ll also need to get a few reliable contacts in case I’m not able to take those rides. I know most of the drivers but I don’t have a lot of their numbers so I’ll be networking at the PGA merchandise show coming up. Gotta spread the wealth but only to those who want it. I know there are some drivers who don’t like me or want to talk to me and that’s fine. They’ve made it clear they don’t need me and honestly, I don’t need them either. I’m in business for myself. What I do need is people who understand the need to work together and those are the ones who I’ll focus my attention on. Fuck the drama and negativity.
Without question it was a successful convention weekend for me. It far exceeded my expectations and I know I’ll be working future Surf Expo’s for sure. Future Home Shows too, but only on weekends. One chick going in asked me if I’d been to one before. I sure have and she wanted some advice. I told her not to buy anything right away since she was a new homeowner. Gather information and contacts and from that, sort out what you really want and then do your research on deals. That’s how you save money and it’s one way to become a responsible homeowner. Never be impulsive.
I do wish I was able to go inside the Expo and peep some underwater gear for cell phones. I saw a tag on the ground for a product I was already interested in. Maybe they had a good deal inside but I’ll never know now. Anyway, there’s always eBay. The gears on my bike were slipping on the last day and that’s the only reason I wasn’t able to work on the 15th for the last day of the Home Show. But that’ll be fixed by the time PGA comes around. I’m getting smarter about how to work this pedicab business to its full advantages the more I work and my body is adapting nicely. Some conventions I only work on a weekend day or two for some extra cash and take my time but this one I was serious about and I came out very green on all 3 days and that’s what it’s all about.
