For 15 years I have regularly attended and disliked “networking events.” I registered for the NYU Entrepreneur Festival because a wise friend suggested it, and it seemed like the right thing to do. I was not exactly looking forward to it. But it was good–great in fact.
Huh, that’s weird.
Mulling over why it felt so strikingly different from any event I’d attended before, I concluded there were many smart choices made by the organizers, and the volunteer staff was exceptionally great. But I also realized it was the first time I’d ever attended an event as myself, not as the representative of someone else’s brand. I wasn’t everybody’s key to reaching an audience. I was just me, and all I had to offer was the brain in my head, and the body standing in my (comfortable) shoes. And that was enough.
For the first time ever, I networked (just writing it makes me quiver with disgust). So let’s instead say I, started conversations, and I met really great people, with ideas and advice flowing both ways. I had a perma-smile for 48 hours. I got to attend this event, rather than be carried around in a gilded cage. As a wise friend told me once, live that way and all you get is a velvet coffin.
BUILDING IT 