The Pitch of a Lifetime
Only three months into my business development co-op at Razorfish Healthware, I was asked to coordinate the pitch for a $2 million project. I was ecstatic, until my manager informed me that he was going to be away and unable to help me.
After a series of near-panic attacks — the senior management team would need to fly to London the next day, and the pitch would take place in only 48 hours — I did what Drexel and co-op teaches you to do: I came to grips with the situation and seized the opportunity.
Our presentation deck was a blank slate. The first order of business was initiating a conference call to get the ball rolling. Many of my colleagues were as shocked as I was to hear that a co-op student would be coordinating the preparation of this multimillion-dollar pitch. Part of my role was to delegate tasks to members of the senior team. Awkward!
I worked hard to develop a sense of camaraderie and trust in the midst of a stressful situation. I tried to be graceful in handing off responsibilities to the team. As they worked to develop the ideal digital solution for the client, I did the legwork necessary to create a deliverable that was persuasive.
That night, I was in the office long after the cleaning crew did its final sweep. I woke up at 4:30 a.m., phone in hand, to dozens of emails. Several of my colleagues were frustrated that we would take on a project with such an unrealistic turnaround. I quickly jumped into damage control mode. At this point, we only had nine hours on the ground together before our presenters would be heading for London; it was crucial that every minute be productive.
By 11:30 a.m. we had our “winning idea” pinned down. But the work did not end there. I camped out in the conference room, holding back-to-back meetings and conference calls all day. By the time I finally sat down at my desk, everyone else had already gone home.
Before I knew it, the team was off to the airport. Once they landed, we did our best to work through the presentation virtually. When the clock hit 2 a.m. GMT and the team there had to get to bed, I was on my own. It was only 9 p.m. in Philadelphia, so I spent the next two hours putting the finishing touches on the deck. I shot the final version over to the team, along with detailed notes outlining every slide. At that point all I could do was wait until they woke up. I set alarms to check my email every 30 minutes, all night long, in case they had any questions as they walked through the presentation. I didn’t get much sleep.
The next morning, I sat alone in the conference room anxiously awaiting the call from the client’s office. The phone finally rang; it was show time. The presentation went by in the blink of an eye, and the client wrapped up the meeting with the typical “We will be in touch.”
Nearly a month later, I saw an email from Roberto Ascione, the president of our company based in Italy, with a subject line “New Business Win in the UK.” The nerve-wracking wait was finally over; we succeeded!
The joy in the office was palpable. This personal and professional win was made even sweeter when I read the last line of our president’s glowing email: “… special thanks to Christina Avino for keeping everything on track through the final hours.”
The president’s shout-out more than made up for my sleep deprivation.
Christina Avino is a junior marketing and psychology major who recently began her final co-op at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She loves to travel and has studied abroad in London. Her favorite restaurant in Philadelphia is Marigold’s Kitchen.
