Our location for the evening. |
Fortunately, the week began in a normal fashion with the usual projects and correspondences crossing my email. Actually, there was a little extra work in that I had to get the rental application completed and submitted to the MIL realtor. But, other than that, everything went according to the usual chaotic schedule. That was pretty much the end of the ‘normal’ part of the week.
Usually
I leave the office sometime between 5:30 and 6:00pm and head home or to the
lodge (those are the most common destinations after work). However, tonight my
journey home had a slight detour as I drove into Philadelphia for a networking
event that my company sponsors. Hello MoMo (Mobile Monday)! Working for a PR firm that focuses exclusively
on the tech industry, this week is full of events which will be pulling us out
of the office at various times. This is the nature of our work days during
Philly Tech Week.
Honestly,
I haven’t been to many networking events lately as my schedule has been fairly
booked with work, lodge, work, apartment hunting, work, blogging, work, and
other things. Tonight was a nice little change from the usual and, actually,
all of the aforementioned topics came up in conversation at various points
during the evening. So, with the team spread out across the Yorn office on 24th
Street, we all chatted away talking about work, tech, and anything else that
happened to come up in conversation.
While
some people at these events go into them with the sole purpose of getting new business
that has never been my singular motivation. I just enjoy meeting and talking
with new people. At the end of the night, I want to look back on an evening
full of great conversations not just a score card of prospects and those not interested.
By looking back at the conversations, I have a better understanding of who
those people are and get a glimpse of how they conduct themselves in business
(most of the time).
The
same rule applies to my everyday job of reaching out to and talking with the
media. If you go into the call or email with the goal of having a conversation
that is generally what you are going to come away with. It is a give and take
industry that I work in and embracing that way of conducting your professional
life allows you to bring your own personality into the job. It is a way of
communicating that translates across all mediums whether it is over the
aforementioned phone or email or if it is in a one on one meeting or at a
networking event.
The
whole purpose is that you have to invest in conversation. People will take
note, just like you do in the same situation, of the genuine interest you show
in the person and to what they have dedicated their career (at least for the
moment). And remember, follow up with those people that you meet and
demonstrate that you were listening but also don’t be afraid to have them
remind you of anything that may have been lost to the recesses of your mind. If
you enjoy meeting people and getting to know them, the ancillary business benefits
will naturally follow. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go write some
emails.
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