May 7, 2008

"ANYTHING IS HARD TO FIND"

Oh, this is fun-- I'm the author or the excerpt of the day on Six Sentences' Ning page. Scroll down.

Went to a networking breakfast this morning, that I rather enjoyed. So funny, that less than two years ago, I was blogging from a hotel room (ha, during a tornado, if memory serves) after clamming up at a book event cocktail party or something and saying "That's it! I'm fed up with being shy at cocktail parties and networking events!" Speaking in front of groups; never an issue. One on one convo; no problem. But, something about milling around and chatting with strangers was terrifying to me. I decided that night to get over it, and I sure did.

It's a work in progress, mind you-- it might always be. I still feel uncomfortable walking into a room full of people. But, what's fear but a big invisible bully, right? So, I decided to address bits at a time, try different approaches and such and it's time like this, when I've returned from an event and met nice people and chatter merrily with them and swapped business cards that I have to take a moment and realize I'm doing pretty okay on this resolution.

5 comments:

Wait. What? said...

Amy your writing always leaves me wanting more!! Catherine from Six

Trump said...

Hobnobbing and schmoozing sucks. It's even worse if you're wandering around with a plate of buffet food trying to find someone to talk to.

Joe said...

I like exploring the subtle differences between hobnobbing, socializing, schmoozing, chatting, gladhanding and networking.

Right now I'm working (but not as hard as I should be) on trying to improve my ability to remember first names of people. I'm great with faces...names, not so much. And I definitely need to improve that.

Katie Schwartz said...

A work in progress indeed, how marvelous that you keep pushing through it. I'm so glad the event was a good one.

Anonymous said...

Ugh. I hate going to a tech conference and doing the working-the-room thing before or after sessions, or during the following cocktail hour. Ugh. It's like a flashback to the 8th grade dance. Okay, maybe not that bad...

Some people seem good at it; maybe I need to shadow one of those folks for a few sessions and see how they do it without feeling like an ass.

I'd love to hear anything you discover in your process of fulfilling your resolution.