Kelly: What we need are a few people in the industry to talk up our new company.
John: I’m on top of that. I’m really well connected, as you know, and I’ve already put in a few calls to a few of the movers and shakers in our business.
Kelly: I didn’t know you had such a vast network of contacts.
John: Oh, sure I do. I don’t mean to name drop, but you know Kevin Martinez at McQ Corp? I’m pretty tight with him. And Eva Arribas at Syntect? She and I go way back.
Kelly: Wow, those are some heavy hitters!
John: You’ve said it. And Kevin owes me one, and Eva would bend over backwards for me.
Kelly: It’s great! What did they say when you asked them to get the word out about us?
John: Um, I’m still waiting to hear back from them. I’m sure they’ll call back any day now.
Kelly begins our dialogue by saying to john “what we need are a few people in the industry to talk up our new company”. The “industry” could refer to any group of business that works in the same area, you could talk about the car manufacturing industry or the coke industry or the podcast industry, any collection of companies in the area of business activity can be called the industry. Here in Los Angeles however when you say “the industry”, you are usually referring to the entertainment industry, movie companies, television studios and so forth. People say “he works in the industry”, they mean he works in some connection to one of the entertainment companies here in Hollywood. Kelly says “they need a few people in the industry to talk up their new company”. To “talk up” is a phrase word meaning to say good things about someone or something so that other people have a good opinion of it. I am going to talk up this new restaurant, it’s really great, I think you should try it, I am saying good things about it to get other people to notice it, to get there.
John says “I am on top of that”. the phrase “to be on top of” something means that you are actually and actively doing something that you don’t need any help from anyone else. That you have it, you might say “under control”, I am taking care of that, it’s what john is saying. He says “I am really well connected”. To be well connected means that you have relationships with very important, powerful, influential people in your area. If someone says “I am very well connected in the industry here in Los Angeles” that would mean they know famous movie stars or famous producers or directors. I for example am not well connected in any industry. John says however I am really well connected as you know and I’ve already put in a few calls to a few of the movers and shakers in our business. “to put in a few calls” means that you have telephoned a few people, you have made a couple of phone calls. The expression “movers and shakers” means people who are very powerful, people who are very influential, people who make big, important decision about something in your particular area.
Kelly says “I didn’t know you had such a vast network of contacts”.“vast” means very large, something that has a lot of different items or things in it. You might talk about the university being vast, it’s huge, it’s really…really big. That’s vast.
John says he has a vast network, a “network” is a group of people who are connected to each other, usually people who have some sort of common, professional interest. I might have a network of people who are language teachers, I don’t but I could and if I did that would be a network. “contacts” are people with whom you have some sort of professional relationship and can call on for advice. I have contacts in the entertainment industry that means I know people, so contacts are people but usually we use that word in talking about people who you have some professional association with. However contacts can also be used to describe just anyone you know, whose telephone or address you have. Mini-phones, Smart-phones, computers have software programs and part of the program or part of the software I should say often has a contact program and the contacts are the people you know their Email address, their phone numbers etc.
so Kelly says “I didn’t know you had such a vast network of contacts.” John says “Oh, sure I do. I don’t mean to name drop, but you know Kevin Martinez at McQ Corp? I’m pretty tight with him.” “to name drop” means to mention the name of some important or famous person in a conversation so that the other person is impressed. They go “wow, you know that person?” for example last night I was having dinner with George W Bush and I was telling him about the ESLPodcast, that would be a example of name dropping, I am mentioning a famous person so that you would go “ Oh wow! you know George W Bush?” John says that he knows this famous person Kevin Martinez, he says “I am pretty tight with him.” “to be tight with” someone means you have a very close relationship with them, to be friends with them. John says “
And Eva Arribas at Syntect? She and I go way back.” The expression “to go way back” means that you know them for a very long time, you have a relationship with them, usually a professional relationship with a person for a very long time, that’s what he means when he says “she and I go way back.”
Kelly says “Wow, those are some heavy hitters!” the expression “heavy hitter” is similar to “movers and shakers”, heavy hitter are people who have a lot of power, a lot of influence in a certain area.
John says “You’ve said it.” The phrase “you said it” is used to show agreement with what the other person has just said. You might also say “exactly” or “precisely”. So your friend says “this is a delicious meal, these foods taste very good” and you respond “you said it” or “exactly” or “precisely”. It means I agree with you completely. John says “And Kevin owes me one, and Eva would bend over backwards for me.”to “owe” someone means you owe that person a favor, you need to do something for that person because they did something for you. Well, John has done something for Kevin, we don’t know what, but now Kevin has to do something for John. This is very powerful social force influence of course what we call “reciprocity”, when I do something for you then you do something for me. John also says that Eva would bend over backwards for him. To “bend over backwards” means to do something more than you might expect, especially when it’s difficult or uncomfortable. We might say it’s to make an extreme effort, to do everything you possibly can for this person, to bend over backwards.
Kelly says “It’s great! What did they say when you asked them to get the word out about us?” the expression “to get the word out” means to inform other people about something, to tell other people about something that is happening, something that is going on, to make sure other people know about it.
Kelly is asking what these heavy hitters say to John. John says “Um, I’m still waiting to hear back from them.” Meaning they haven’t returned his phone call, they haven’t called him back. “I’m sure they’ll call back any day now.” the expression “any day now” means soon but you are not exactly sure when, you think it will happen soon but you are not sure. So John has always heavy hitting friends but they don’t call him back, maybe they are not really friends.
