Friends news: my Tokyo Blind Date
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Hello Reader, from your friend Nick, author of The 2-Hour Cocktail Party. Inside: SPECIAL issue for my Tokyo Blind Date, plus gathering structures, an amazing Pharrell video, 101 tips from Kevin Kelly, how to find a great restaurant in Tokyo, my 39 best travel gear items, and more. NICK GRAY FRIENDS NEWSLETTER Why you’re getting this: I'm Nick Gray and this is my Friends Newsletter. I send this every month to interesting people I’ve connected with and friends I want to keep in touch with. You can un-subscríbe any time and I won't be mad. I won't even be notified! My Tokyo Blind DateI went viral last week for a blind date. But then PEOPLE magazine, BBC News, and The Washington Post all wanted to interview me… and I turned them down to give myself some space and privacy to think about what’s next. Here’s the story as told through my diary entries starting with my late-night post asking if anyone wanted to fly and meet me in Tokyo. Over 400 people applied and then the whole thing took on a life of its own. My social media posts got over 15 million impressions, which is definitely the most text-based viral thing I've ever done. It was truly an awesome experience that was even better than described… but see for yourself! Read the full article on my personal blog. Random LinksNeat article with a variety of different formats for more structured gatherings, like unconferences. I had never heard of the Fishbowl and now I want to try it out. Submitted via Jodi Ettenberg, thanks Jodi!! 🇯🇵 How to Find a Great Restaurant in Tokyo, No Matter Where You Are Written in 2017 but this is still the go-to site for local to rate and review restaurants in Japan. I ended up mostly using Google Maps due to ease of use, but know that reviews are NOT on a curve in Japan. So while you'd never eat at a place with 3-star reviews in America, it is very normal and good in Tokyo. 🎵 Masterclass Pharrell Williams Maggie Rogers (YouTube) This is a beautiful video. Watch as Pharrell sees a young Maggie Rogers demo her hit song for the first time. ✈️ 39 Best Travel Items: Gear, Gadgets, Toiletries, and Tech (2024) I wrote an article to share my battle-tested travel items because I'm a tech geek. Including clothing, toiletries, gadgets, and more. Here's all the stuff I did in March. I'll do April next. I’m surprised how many cool events I did. These are fun for me to compile. I'll write up April soon. A new set of 101 bits of advice from Kevin Kelly. He's so smart. Very good guy. I got to visit his studio and he cooked me dinner a few weeks ago in California. Fascinating article with detailed numbers — ”In 2022, Penguin Random House wanted to buy Simon & Schuster… during the trial, the head of every major publishing house and literary agency got up on the stand to speak about the publishing industry and give numbers, giving us an eye-opening account of the industry from the inside.” thanks to Marc Nathan for sending A blog posted this recap a few days into the date as it was taking over Twitter -- "Nick Gray is brilliant. If you haven’t heard of him or haven’t been following along with his story, then I suggest you start now because something tells me this saga is going to continue for a while and if you ask me, it’s the best thing happening on the Internet right now." 🏹 Tokyo Blind Date: Chronological post collection Here’s the story I linked above, collected on my blog of my diary entries starting from the beginning. Quotes“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good.” “Behind every great relationship are difficult and uncomfortable conversations that we rarely get to see. Great relationships do not just fall into our laps. They require people to move through their fears and insecurities and do the hard work to move wounds to healing.” The EndThanks for reading my Friends Newsletter and for your support of my adventures. I'm flying to LA tomorrow for my friend Jonathan Wegener's wedding. Then back in Austin for a bit and in June I'm heading to Bali, Indonesia for a very rural hike experience with some interesting people. Upcoming articles that I will share include: Men's Hair Loss Update, How to Host a Dating Salon (people LOVE these little events), and more. See you next month! 🤠 Nick Gray p.s. Here's the About Me on my website if you forgot who I am. We met [HOWWEMET GOES HERE]. Add me elsewhere@NickGrayNews on all the social media The 2-Hour Cocktail Party: How to Build Big Relationships with Small Gatherings |