FR Local tech networking event…

This is a quick and short FR cause I don’t like writing FRs all that often unless there’s something remarkable to write about. Tonight, my business partner and I went to a tech conference near Gallery Place. Sold out, 1200 technology business people attended.

Wtf does that have to do with pickup? A LOT.

Let me say this… if you practice pickup… the skills you learn doing THAT, makes handling these kinds of events a piece of cake. It is SOOO easy to go into an event like this and successfully meet and connect with people.

These kinds of events, especially of this size and nature, are charged with energy AND tension. You don’t want to go in there with slouched over, debby downer, attitude. You want to contribute to the energy with a confident vibe. You want to be taken seriously, and you represent yourself and co-workers/company in the best light possible.
I got into state by getting hyped up for it before I even let my apartment. Just like a sarge, I had focused objective of quickly connecting with people and working the crowd. I was very direct. I opened sets that walked by and I walked into sets that were standing around.

I would stick my hand right out, say hello and ask what they did and who they were with. By getting them to talk first, I could then get a sense of what they were about, and adjust my own “elevator speech” about our company accordingly. Not everyone I met would have direct need for our services, but I definitely tuned in to what they did, which allowed me to make several introductions between strangers because I paid attention.

And yes, surprisingly in a room full of professionals, a lot of people were “chode crystals”. Even folks in PR and marketing… in the BUSINESS of networking company’s message, I saw that some were struggling to simply step into a set and get going.

Here’s a few openers I used…

“Hi, what do you do?”

“Hi, I know I am interrupting, my apologies, but I saw you two talking
for a while and I wanted to say hello, what do you guys do?”

“Hello, what does uh <read company’s nametag> do?”

“Hey, PBS! I want get an interview, it’s my dream to be on PBS… Jim,
Big Bird, I don’t who interviews me, just get me on PBS.”

Terrible openers right? Wrong. They’re calbirated for the social function. Guess what else… I talked to mostly chicks. YES, that’s why this FR is in here and not “off topic”.

I opened, gamed, and networked with women in my field. And YES, believe it or not, tech conferences these days have lots of good looking, intelligent, professional women… the reason behind it is that there have been technological advances in the last 2 to 5 years that have changed how people do market online. So let’s just say, the PR girls were out in full force.

You don’t believe me? Come on out. Oh did I mention it was open bar event? And..oh yeah.. admission was free? So do the math fellas…

I walked out with pocket full of business cards and majority with names like Nicole, Amy, Nina…etc. Not a dime was spent on my part.

The Game can be played anywhere guys. Especially these kinds of networking events, it’s expected to come up and talk to complete strangers. So why not start with the hottest women there? There was zero excuse for not walking up and getting a discussion going.

THERE IS NO AA. Most of these people were simply relieved that I just stepped up and started the conversation for them, and got it comfortably flowing. That’s what everyone is there to do! So you can straight up ask HB9.5 what does she do and she’s going to give an energetic direct response.

So for the reason of improving your personal social skills, AND improving your professional lives…and for those of you just starting your professional careers… you’ve GOT to go to events like these.

You may want to tone down the peacocking a bit… or then again, maybe not.

D