I had the pleasure of attending a networking event last week in central Massachusetts. My cohorts and I braved the nearly 100 degree temperature to melt with the best of them in our business casuals while live jazz permeated the thick summer air. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the raw bar slowly decaying in the mid-summer sun but something was definitely in the air that day. I came away with a reminder on the finer points of connecting with people.
Our attendance at this function was the result of an online marketing strategy. This time of year there aren’t a lot of networking events hosted by the trade groups I usually frequent and so a venue with a broader group of professionals seemed like a welcome change of pace. The time indicated for the event start was not only several hours wrong, the organizers also failed to mention the event was invitation only. Why did we all get those emails again? A live radio broadcast on premises was attended by less than 20 people. Good thing it was radio. Worse, the poor representative taking our heated questions hadn’t seen the marketing pieces we were barraged with. More folks left, steaming over more than the weather than stayed and attended. Every aspect of the event seemed pieced together with the paste we used to eat in kindergarten. Hell, a second band even showed up thinking it was their gig when another group was hired.
The take away here: communication is key. Employees weren’t informed. Constituents weren’t informed. The band wasn’t informed. The seafood wasn’t informed. To the host organizations merit, their reps canvased the crowd taking in the good and the bad. When approached for my opinion I feel I was listened to intently and with respect. A win for them. Also learned, don’t keep your oysters in direct sunlight for three hours. Funkier then the 1968 James Brown Boston Garden Concert, no kidding.
To add insult to injury, I was approached by no less than three attendees who started the conversation with, ” Let me tell you about this great opportunity…”. Are you kidding? It’s too hot for that. Worse, when it was clear I wasn’t buying I got a ‘so do you think you have friends or other contacts who would speak to me”? No eye contact. Clearly more painful for them then me.
Why is it so easy to talk about networking the right way and so seemingly difficult to get it right in practice. Is it training, pressure, laziness, carelessness? I spent decades on stage and if you ask me it’s simple. People get caught up in being ‘on stage’ at a networking event and forget the right way to execute. Not just young people, ALL people fall into it. There are only good people in the world. Good people DO make BAD decisions, exhibit BAD behaviors. If we all keep each others best interest in mind and use sincerity as our primary emotion in a group setting then we will all enjoy the oysters a lot more.
