“Where am I?” I scan my printed directions for the third
time to verify the address. I look at
the address on the building again . . . it's the same address. I consult the directory posted on the wall,
searching for the law firm where I was supposed to be five minutes ago . . . it
is not there. I look up and down the
empty hallways wondering if maybe someone will know where I am supposed to
go. Finally a woman emerges from the
elevator and I manage to corner her and ask if she knows where this law firm
is. She’s never heard of it. But then a light bulb goes off in her head! She says “Oh, there are two buildings with
this address, the other one is just across the road.” I thank her graciously and then walk across
the street all the while thinking to myself “Who does that? What brilliant city planner thought that
having two different buildings with the same address on opposite sides of a
service road would be a good idea?”
Tonight I went to my first law
school alumni networking event since graduation four years ago. I recently decided to attempt to get over my
fear of networking and try to improve this skill that I never quite fully developed. I am not a natural networker; I am who I
am. I know that I am not good at
peripheral chit chat. I am not good at
making my work and/or life sound more important than it is without sounding
pretentious or like I am bragging. Whether
valid or not, that is what I think of when I think of “networking.” Just the
thought of walking into a room full of strangers and acquaintances, knowing I
will have to engage in small talk in a noisy, crowded room is enough to make my
palms sweat.
I almost didn’t go to the event
tonight. I had already had two business
functions during the day – breakfast in Hollywood
with a music supervisor and lunch back at the office with some
composers/producers. I was essentially
“functioned” out. The address fiasco was
yet another setback in my attempt to “network.”
I also had not realized that the attire requested was “business” attire
until half an hour before the event was supposed to start. Remember, I am an entertainment attorney – not
only that, I work in-house for a music company . . . we are not exactly a buttoned up
operation. Fortunately I had heels in my
car to change into so that I wouldn’t have to walk into a room wearing my
trusty converse sneakers when everyone else was wearing suits. The only thing that kept me from backing out
was that the new alumni relations director is a friend of mine and she had
personally emailed me asking if I could go.
I didn’t want to let her down – otherwise, she might “accidentally” kick
me the next time we go to a kickboxing class together (just kidding).
Once there, it was actually a
pretty good event. I saw some faces that
I haven’t seen since graduation. I will say that it was very nice to be able to talk to people in person
about what I do and feel like I sort of belonged in the "lawyer" club.
As I am the only attorney in my company, it can get a little lonely. I was
grateful to hear that many other alums have been as bad as I have in relying
mostly on facebook to keep up with our old classmates. In the facebook age, networking in person can
seem irrelevant. You already feel like
you know what is going on in a person’s life.
However, I realized through (in person) comments at this event that I
tend to post things on facebook that are more relevant to my personal and/or
performing life than I do about my professional life. Perhaps I shall have to change that . . . or maybe
I could give this in-person communication thing a try.
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