A while ago I wrote that I tend to be a little skeptical of first time contacts who insist on having business meetings at Dempsey.
There's another group- I've since realized- whom I'm also a little skeptical of, and even though I can't say for sure whether it is true or whether it is my pure bias, I'm just going to put it down anyway.
Before I continue, however, I must make it clear that I am neither against bean nor brew nor place, and I love a good cup of coffee as much as anyone else, and at anywhere else that serves a good brew.
So it isn't that I have a beef with the person or the bean or the brew, but with the ideology that appreciators of good coffee (read: successful people) are so qualified that they deserve to have someone else pay for their choice of brew.
I don't know where this ideology stems from.
It certainly wasn't there when we had business meetings over a decade ago.
What changed?
Did this ideology start growing around the same time that the start up sector picked up?
Or was it always quietly there?
The thing that stands out about them is that they have a singular sort of pattern.
For instance they won't suggest the coffee chains like Huggs, Joe and Dough, Starbucks or Coffee Bean.
Instead they'll throw out a place that is oft located in such and such a place that is so indie that it is remarkably hard to find.
Not just that, when you meet them you'll find yourself swamped with a lot of talk about their (grand) vision, their goals, their dreams, their plans, their partners, what they're doing, why they're doing what they're doing, the lifestyle that they're on a mission for, and so on.
It's a pitch that they hope you will get on board with- and pay them for it- starting with a free ($9 worth) cup of coffee.
There will be those who'll be glad for the connection and the opportunity.
Unfortunately for them, not me.
I'm a bit stubborn in the sense that I don't like to waste time hunting about for a cafe especially for a business meeting on a business workday.
It irritates the s*** out of me.
I don't care what kind of coffee the place serves.
I'm there just to talk to you.
It isn't because I don't appreciate quality.
But I don't try to make you pay for it, and I don't try to upkeep an image that says I work 15 hours a day so much so that even my self indulgence (in a good cup of coffee) cannot be enjoyed separately but has to be part of my regular workday.
(What are you working 15 hours for if you can't even make time to quietly enjoy a good cup of coffee?)
That being said, I'm less huffly with those who I think deserve more effort, money and time.
Not, however, with everyone and anyone.
There was this person I met who decided that we should meet at this place somewhere on Orchard Road.
Now, I don't mind Orchard Road, but out of all the malls along the stretch, and out of all the coffee places in the malls along the same stretch, he/she would choose a place so exclusive that it took me a while before I eventually found it between a steak restaurant and a car park beside.
To be honest, the choice of place should have given me a clue, but it was our first meet and it would be terribly mean of me if I used my close-mindedness to brand a person as unproductive simply because they chose a nice, Instagrammable cafe over a regular, cookie-cutter one.
So I go for these meetings with an open mind.
With the result that this has happened to me five times.
Let me put it this way.
It isn't that I mind paying for green shakes or good coffee.
But... is it necessary?
Is it necessary to (only) get work done in a cafe that sells top notch coffee, muffins, bakes, carrot shakes and green juice?
And can we (only) have a discussion if the coffee's this and this bean and this and this brew?
I don't know.
That's not how it is for me
I belong to a group who won't think you any less a discerning business person if you ordered a kopi from Ya Kun or Hans or any kopitiam than if you ordered an espresso from some indie cafe in some shophouse on some enclave street.
Perhaps for some the environment is like an armor which puts them in a more combative, more business-like frame of mind.
But those from the group don't need it, and neither do I.
Those who insist on these cafes for business meetings will, of course, disagree.
They'll tell me that a cafe is a central meeting place where people gather to connect with each other, and build meaningful interactions together.
They'll also tell me that cafe culture from the likes of (elsewhere) have been known to facilitate conversation, encourage deep thought and foster like-minded camaraderie.
Yes, I agree.
But, again, I ask, is it really necessary?
I can't speak for everyone- there're certainly more positive experiences out there- but I'm afraid my time at these cafes has mostly been rather unproductive- where after an hour or so I came out not being able to pin down what exactly we had talked about, and what we could possibly together do.
It wasn't just the lack of synergy.
It was that I couldn't tell what it was they were doing, really.
I'm not saying this out of arrogance, or singular perspective.
Because things- at least for some of them- have proven itself true.
One who met me at a cafe along Jalan Besar quite claiming he/she had extensive experience with the ins and outs of certain government-related applications, but (despite knowing what we were doing) he/she couldn't find any collaborative opportunity- and we were expected to sponsor him/her with a coffee for this sharing, experience and expertise.
The one at Orchard Road who hovered the conversation passionately between his/her advertising agency and an e-comm platform a couple of years later decided he/she would no longer be doing either and transited to an industry more dynamic instead.
Then the one who gathered the entire group together to work at cafes on Orchard Road and Tanjong Pagar informed everyone several months after that the organization or company they had all been working for and/or contributing to would be shutting down.
I sometimes wonder what happened to all those plans.
I also sometimes wonder what happened to those who worked with him/her and whether they are still part of the same community.
You can call me old fashioned, but here's my perspective.
A cafe is meant to serve as an alternative environment to the office where a worker can take a breather from the stifling cubicle desk, ringing phone, cabinet and chair.
It is meant to be a place where you can hold casual, non-committal discussions with a cup of your favorite brew without the formality of a meeting room or a boardroom.
The base of all that is the work that needs to be done.
If your work can't make it in an office environment with cubicles, rollabout chairs, window blinds and boring paper files, if it's not purposeful and strategic in theory and in implementation, it is not going to make it in a fancy, minimalist cafe with tiny little tables and cushioned benches for (only) two persons either.