Yesterday I came across a random tweet about an event being held last night, and I decided I’d check it out – see what it had to offer.
The event was a networking event for blog writers local to the San Diego area, and I had seen their name in a few tweets from some of my current PR clients, so I figured it might be an interesting time getting to know the people that “know” SD best.
(PS – for all of you doing my 30 day blog challenge, this is a great example about finding something to do – then blogging about it day-of)
In all honesty, I’ve always been reluctant to attend “networking” events because EVERY SINGLE TIME I’ve been to one, it has been filled with people looking for work, soliciting themselves to you, and being value ‘takers’. After going to those events, I have always felt like I’ve wasted 2 hours of my life that I could have better spent watching re-runs of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Last night, however – I was pleasantly surprised. Not once did I feel like I was being solicited to, and everyone I met seemed GENUINELY interested in others, and were actually GENUINELY-INTERESTING people. Instead of what a usual networking event might consist of – 3 minute conversations about what someone does & how they can help you – it was spent talking about technology, innovation, change, and new & exciting things going on in San Diego. Over the 2 hours I was there, I probably spoke with about 5 different people at length – had great conversations about photography to foursquare to online marketing with fortune 500 companies to cocktail promotions, and everything in between.
The night was sponsored by SaltBox in Hotel Palomar, downtown SD and provided appetizers with some crazy drinks (see below).
I decided to take my camera down with me just to have a little fun and capture some scenes from the evening – I hardly ever shoot at events when I’m not hired, but it was actually a nice sense of independence/freedom to shoot what I wanted. And it was nice to be out at an event where I’m the ‘guest’ rather than someone working, sometimes you’ve gotta take a step back & see the other side of the story!
Crazy big door to get into the hotel.
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Crazy cocktails.
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Crazy Magnet.
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Crazy prizes.
Awesome time. Looking forward to the next one guys!
Andy - Nice write up, awesome picsDecember 20, 2011 – 1:02 pm
Tim - @Justin – yes. Quality, not quantity. Something that was difficult for me to learn going to these things. Talking with someone for a long time is much more worth it than meeting a ton of people and chit-chatting about the same surface stuff.
JM – I was using the 50mm – shot these at 1.4, 1/40th 1600 & 3200 ISO.December 16, 2011 – 1:36 pm
Ashley Goodwin - Seems like a lot of fun! Happy to see some shots “for you” because that doesn’t happen often! And that giant door? I would have stared at it for a long time before I figured out how it worked. Seriously. I can see my perplexed look now…December 16, 2011 – 11:31 am
JM - What lens were you using / and what ISO? Very sharp, clear pictures for such a low-light, indoor setting without using flash.December 16, 2011 – 10:07 am
Justin Douglas - Did you get a lot of connections?December 16, 2011 – 10:00 am
Tim - @Mom – how do you know what foursquare is?December 16, 2011 – 8:24 am
Lisa - So what’s the latest on foursquare?December 16, 2011 – 8:10 am