“Making Contacts at Social Events”

February 17, 2009: Fasten your seat belts, Rotarians, for today we learned how to beat the game of party hopping to come out ahead. Rotarian George Stevens kept us all on the edge of our chairs as he systematically told us how to make contacts and avoid getting “captured” when you attend a social affair, be it big or small.

The first step is to establish your goal and to do so it makes sense to set a challenge to meet 6 people during the course of the event. Prepare an “elevator” speech, i.e. one that you can do in just a few minutes yet make your point known. This would usually involve a very quick introduction of your self and what it is that you do.

In advance, bone up on a few current topics other than the weather to which you can refer and use to break into a conversation. Try not to come off negative; it is better to find something good to say on any subject. Arriving at the event you need to size it up; is it too loud to talk, are there too many people to even begin to talk to, is it so small that you will quickly find yourself trapped with a group for your total stay? The best event is reasonably large, and spread over several rooms or hallways so that you can find brief escape areas. If the groups are small, try to slip into a group of two, focusing on one of the two. If nothing else is apparent, comment on something about the individual; a lapel pin often gives you a great opener. But, when talking with a lady, speak of nothing below her neck! If you get “captured” in a conversation going no where, excuse yourself to get another drink, food, or a rest break. If that fails, find some other poor soul in the room to introduce to your “going nowhere” person, and bail out! If you are fortunate enough to have someone else from your group attending with you, make plans to help each other out when an escape is needed.

When it is all over, write down notes immediately so you have a reference to use to follow up on the good things that happened. Thanks, George, now we all know how to outsmart each other whenever we schmooze the players in a social setting!

Reported by Fred Sales, Keyway Committee