That’s my new motto. I achieved this at PRSSA’s annual networking event last Thursday, but only by chance. I was dressed well because I came from my current internship, and had business cards with me because I brought my briefcase inside, not wanting to leave my laptop just sitting in the car.
The evening was not as smooth as it could have been- two speakers were scheduled, and the event planners chose to wait until both had arrived before commencing with either presentation. That seemed foolish to me because we could have been listening to the first speaker while waiting for the second to arrive. Waiting for both put us quite late in starting the “speed networking” portion of what was already a pretty late evening for the professionals, who had given up their time to aid the students.
The event was not overly well-attended, but I was pleased about that, because it meant I got more one-on-one face time with the professionals. Essentially, it felt as though the representatives were there to talk the seniors off the ledge. Individuals like myself who have little direction for the coming future were put at ease by professional after professional who stressed that they more or less stumbled bass-ackwards into their careers.
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet with so many business professionals, especially Michelle Blackley, the communications manager for Niagara Tourism & Convention Corporation. She seems to have found the “dream job:” she works to pitch Niagara County as a tourism destination and gets to travel all over the continent to do so, visiting conferences of travel journals, writers, and the like. She had great insight, and, upon hearing that I’m an intern at a non-profit organization, suggested that I look into learning grant-writing, seeing as it can be quite a marketable skill. In the brief time we had to chat, I felt like there was so much more I could have learned from her.
So we exchanged business cards. Which I had. Fortune favors the fortunate. I mean prepared.
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