Wine expert Gary Vaynerchuk has a thing for wacky self-promotions, having done everything from appearing on TVs in gas stations to plastering his book jacket on billboards along New Jersey highways. Now, he’s embarking on a 24-hour tour to airports in six different cities to promote his new book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion. The Hudson Hustle, as Vaynerchuk calls it, entails visits to six Hudson News airport stores today and tomorrow, at La Guardia, O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, LAX, and Newark.
Vaynerchuk’s publisher, Harper Studio, worked with Hudson News to pick airport stores that receive the most foot traffic and are best placed in relation to security. At each store, Vaynerchuk will give a brief q&a while signing books before leaving to board the next plane. The tour began at 6:30 this morning at La Guardia, where Vaynerchuk signed books at Hudson Booksellers in the central terminal. He then flew to Chicago, where he visited the Hudson News at O’Hare’s Terminal 3 from 9:45 to 10:30 a.m. This afternoon he will hit Dallas Fort Worth and two stores at Denver International Airport, and will end with an 8:30 to 9:15 p.m. signing at the Hudson News in LAX’s Terminal 7. Tomorrow morning, Vaynerchuk will be at two stores at Newark International Airport, and by 7:30 a.m. tomorrow, the tour will be over. Some of the stores are situated before security and are therefore accessible to the general public, while others are postsecurity and accessible only to ticketed travelers. The tour is being streamed live at ustream.tv/garyvee.
Vaynerchuk’s associate, Matt Sitomer, is accompanying Vaynerchuk on the tour. Harper Studio senior v-p and associate publisher Debbie Stier said Vaynerchuk will “wing it” in case of flight delays and cancellations. She called Crush It! “the perfect airport book,” since it provides “a flight's worth of reading.”