It strikes me that the notion of the "Elevator Pitch" is somewhat outmoded today. Plus, it's also fundamentally flawed since in its most common and simplistic definition, it's not able to take into account the height of the building nor the speed of the elevator. For example, a five storey building with an express elevator makes for a very short pitch indeed, whereas a fifty storey building with a clapped out old slo-mo elevator would allow for a fully detailed exposition, a comprehensive cost benefit analysis with a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation and worked examples on ROI with a three week long "try-before-you-buy" trial period.
After 9/11 and since we generally seem to be spending progressively less time cooped up in tall buildings with elevators - like since when did a homeworker/teleworker ever use an elevator let alone an elevator pitch, and modern WiFi workers camped in a Starbucks for an entire morning's toil won't require an elevator anytime soon - then I think the whole notion should be abolished and replaced with something more contemporary.
Later : (I've just had a thought, do salespeople who work for elevator manufacturers actually find themselves using elevator pitches for elevators in elevators? Would express lift salespeople be really concise and to the point or would they just stand there and say nothing, leaving the elevator to make it's own pitch merely by operating smoothly and quickly? Could that therefore be described an elevator elevator elevator pitch in an elevating elevator?)
After 9/11 and since we generally seem to be spending progressively less time cooped up in tall buildings with elevators - like since when did a homeworker/teleworker ever use an elevator let alone an elevator pitch, and modern WiFi workers camped in a Starbucks for an entire morning's toil won't require an elevator anytime soon - then I think the whole notion should be abolished and replaced with something more contemporary.
Later : (I've just had a thought, do salespeople who work for elevator manufacturers actually find themselves using elevator pitches for elevators in elevators? Would express lift salespeople be really concise and to the point or would they just stand there and say nothing, leaving the elevator to make it's own pitch merely by operating smoothly and quickly? Could that therefore be described an elevator elevator elevator pitch in an elevating elevator?)