Finding the Fun Way In

I was having a little dilaogue about making things fun - especially about making things that are like work fun - on the Playful Path conference. I wrote:

I've been thinking recently about cold calling. The very word "cold"
is, well, not one of the words that we usually use in connection with
fun. Cold calling. And I've been wondering, maybe there IS a way for it
to be fun. And wondering even more if somehow I've let it become much
less fun than it could be. Somehow, maybe, I've let myself get too
serious about the whole thing.

And I got this response, from colleague and mentor Bill Harris.

So, what about hot calling? What if you made a list of the business
parks or office buildings (or similar) in your region and went (probably
with permission of the landlord :-) to one a week, holding a junkyard
sports lunch break and having business cards and flyers available (maybe
even a few Deep Fun shirts to sell)? What if you could make it seem
like a surprise to all the participants, even though the landlords knew
in advance? What if people at as-yet-unvisited companies started to get
anxious for you to drop in on them and it began to take on a life of its
own? What if you planted the thought in participants' minds that they
go away refreshed and ready to really dig in and do good for society
that afternoon? What if you figured out a way to get introduced to the
top manager at those places (at least some of them) to talk about your
ideas for 10 minutes at the end? What if those managers saw a
correlation between the junkyard sports and a fired-up workgroup? What
if you, after doing a couple to clean up any rusty edges, invited the
press (the LA Times, NPR, whatever) to see the "Pied Piper of Workplace
Fun" or some such? (Major Fun works, too!) What if some of those
managers brought you back to do what was on your flyer? (You did have
it say you'd help them start off their own lunchtime junkyard Olympics,
right, and that they could do it on their own after you'd helped them a
few times? You did say they could hire you back for the closing
ceremony, except you'd just re-open the Games again?) What if you told
us what you think of this crazy idea? :-) ... and if you actually try
it, tell us what happens? (They say they let you have at least one
phone call if you get arrested; maybe you can call one of us to post
your report! :-) What if I learn to organize text into paragraphs or
lists?

What a joy it is to have friends like Bill. How essential for us all to find people who can help us find the fun way in.