There was a season couple of years ago when my job required me to attend networking sessions whenever possible.
Some of these sessions left me an impression, or at least, with an inkling of it.
Others did not.
But time spent at a place is time not lost, and so this particular session came to mind when a name card popped out from under a stack of papers in the paperwork drawer.
The name on the card had been the host.
Or rather, he had been a representative from the company that had been the host.
We'd met this young man only several days prior.
I don't remember very much the details of that meeting- my colleague might remember it better- but the long and short of it all was that we would have access to a huge network of successful, high profile business persons across multiple industries to whom we could do targeted B2B marketing and investor pitches, plus guaranteed invitations to exclusive, show-stopping events- all for a membership subscription fee.
It was quite an interesting deck he showed- graphs, figures, numbers, pictures of the most recent beauty pageant the company had organized, as well as footage of a convoy of Bentleys traveling along a highway. (I don't know which highway.)
He himself impressed upon us the prestige of the Bentleys, so when he extended an invitation to come for a closed door, exclusive, invitation-only event at The Sail (with drinks!), we decided to go.
Before that, however, he warned, there was a dress code.
"No slippers, no shorts, no singlet, (sic) The Sail," he said, "Security won't let you in otherwise."
You're the host, we're the guests, Anything You Say.
It's funny how the brain filters things.
I don't remember much of the crowd at the session that evening.
Neither do I remember much of what was being said.
it's not that I don't remember the speeches.
It's that I didn't care for them as much as I cared about the ones making them.
There was this one guy who made a lively, sales-oriented introduction pitch about the cufflinks that he sold.
There was this one guy who shared a business anecdote, threading into his narrative a bit of motivational quote for all present to acknowledge and applaud.
Then there was another one which I completely cannot remember.
What's strange is that none of them made an lasting impression on me, except for one- the MC/Presenter.
It wasn't because he made points that stuck in my head, or that he was humorous, funny or witty.
But the way he stretched out his arm and said "without further ado" every time he introduced up to the front someone new stayed with me.
Consider me a bit of a stubborn stickler when it comes to how these phrases are oft used, but the image of "without further ado" makes me think of a large community hall, a large school hall, a lecture theater, an auditorium, or at least anywhere that has proper demarcation for a stage.
It isn't often that I hear such formality in a room the size of a regular office suite on a high floor of The Sail where the walls are a normal white, the carpet an office blue, and the audience cloistered on foldable chairs in three tight rows of ten each.
But the MC was downright sincere-as if he were at the podium on the stage of a large ballroom or an auditorium inviting a very important guest up to make his speech.
This might have been a rehearsal.
This might not have been.
I don't know.
It could have been that he thought of using this opportunity to train so that one day he could qualify as an MC in a grand ballroom the likes of what he had seen in pictures of events which the company organized.
Or he might have considered the event of this regular-sized room of equal importance as the larger venues which pictures he had also seen.
The effort was there.
He might not have as good the looks as some of his peers in the company had.
He also might not have as clear an enunciation nor tone as his mentors had.
But he had an exuberance as well as an attitude that made him a great candidate to break the ice and rally the crowd.
I don't know whether this young man continued to play the role of MC at other similar sessions organized by the company.
That was the first and last (networking) session I went for with said representative, and this company.
Let's just say that I'd hoped it would be a bit more fruitful, that there had been more new visitors at the session rather than a gathering of friends, that the topics shared would be more fascinating than common sense masqueraded as "business wisdom", and that there had been at least little bites of food.
You may think it's a lot to complain about.
But hey, there are networking sessions, and there are networking sessions.
I go there to exchange name cards with people from different businesses.
I don't go there to drop a stack of cards to people from the same company who are asking me to pay to join them so that I can collect more cards from my colleagues (friends) (peers) (likeminded go-getters) and just one card from someone new.
It makes no business sense.
And wastes my time.
Also, I don't cheer nor give a round of applause for business persons whom I don't know, and I don't give a flying f*** even if you insist so.