Note To Self #1: Creative Name Tags are Key.

Case and Point:  Last night, at Mashable’s January Networking Event, I discovered that everyone was going right up to this guy, David, who’s standard “Hello My Name Is…” name tag so cleverly read: “David Spinks – I need a Job!”.   Brilliant!  Flat out state your goal at these events.  Everyone else has come to a “networking” fiesta for the same reason, to talk to each other, and sometimes we just need a little nudge on how to approach the unknown.  Kudos to David on his ‘lets-get-right-down-to-business’ attitude.

Note To Self #2:  Be Brave and Go It Alone.

While I often cruise these types of events with at least one of my favorite AMP3ers in tow, I’ve met an overwhelming number of new people in this past week simply by showing up empty-handed.  Sure, there were a few familiar faces in the room, but I’ve realized that in being forced to extend a hand and get to know someone you might not normally if you were busy catching up with your cohort, you learn a lot.  You also kind of have that sad deer-in-headlights look when you’re an unassuming gal standing around by yourself, so I’m sure that helped me score some points on an approachable-scale of 1 to 10.

Revelations aside, last night was a complete zoo.  I arrived at a very punctual 7:10PM, and already, there was a wait to get in (thankfully, I wore my parka).  Upon entry, it was a mad house with people knocking in to each other left & right and no real possibility to move about, let alone mingle, with a new slew of people.  After I received a text from my aforementioned AMP3 cohort, who told me that not only were they not letting anyone else in from outside, but that the cops were on their way in due to capacity issues, the Peroni laden crowd thinned out, and the trek to the Upper East Side became worthwhile.

Even with the bustling crowd, insane heat, and unnecessary coat-check fee, I still managed to meet some really cool people, including one of my favorite writers/tweeps, Kelly Samardak of MediaPost (aka @socialmedium), who gave me a shout out in her infamous event recap today, also.

Now it’s time for the weekend.  And after a week like the past one, my objective is to be as anti-social as is humanly possible.  See you all next week!

[Alyson Campbell for It's All Very PR]

Tags: Add new tag, Alyson Campbell, AMP3 pr, AMP3 Public Relations, It's All Very PR, Mashable, networking

This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 6:48 pm and is filed under connecting the dots, special events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.