Ari Gold: Super Agent? (Part three: Declaring war)

In this scene we see Ari start to put his negotiation strategy into offensive mode. This is the first time he stands up against Terrence's overbearing presence, and is the beginning of the explicit bargaining process between the two. Ari is signaling to Terrence that if he wants something, he must be prepared to make some concessions to Ari. As hinted to in this scene, Ari likes to view himself as a general and his agents as his troops. He takes this metaphor quite literally: He once sent out an assistant to a beach party commanding her to "storm that beach like it's fucking Normandy!" So where does General Ari Gold conduct his battles? The conference room, which is affectionately known as the "war room" by anyone who works for him. So by arranging a meeting in the conference room, Terrence's request is akin to a formal declaration of war. According to Frank L. Acuff's How to Negotiate Anything with Anyone Anywhere Around the World, this kind of bargaining over 'home field advantage' happens all the time. There are several reasons for this. First, one is more comfortable and likely more confident on their own turf. Second, you can treat the opposing side however you want. Acuff brings up the possibility of treating the other side "like a king or queen, thereby enhancing the relationship," but it's likely that Terrence and Ari are thinking about the converse -- a rickety chair on a lower altitude, perhaps.