The Latest in Networking in the Northwest - A Gong Show?

By Lori Richardson, Northwest Bureau Chief
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When you think of a gong at a networking event, it evokes various thoughts. For those of us who are Baby Boomers (or old Gen X'ers as I am), you may think of the 1976 TV show where people did very strange or unusual performances on stage and a panel of three celebrities would "gong" the worst ones. Some of these shows are now circulating around on YouTube - now any age can see this show. It definitely was strange, so with trepidation I attended the brand-new SeattleNetwork.net's first mixer recently. I heard that there would be "no badges, no fee to join, no dues, and no rules, with a great entertaining 'Gong Show' venue."

At one point I was not sure how long I would stay there because it DID feel much like other networking I had done at the most beautiful and upscale Columbia Tower Club, on the 75th floor of the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle.

Then I heard the gong. Israel Rothman, CEO and founder of Social Media Systems wielded the padded mallet, and he certainly seemed to enjoy it.

He told everyone, who was busy networking, that shortly there would be someone up front, speaking, and then there would be an opportunity for five people to come up front and talk. He told us to get back to our networking and we'd begin in a few minutes.

This caused everyone to wonder what is this going to be like? I really liked the curiosity in the room. Mr. Rothman came back to speak over the crowd of now 40 or so people. "Advertising has changed", he stated. "People find you - you don't find them. Now people have the ability to track down just about anything they need, based on how interesting they find it. So here is how things will work," he commented. He proceeded to tell us that he wanted five people to come up front, give their name and their company but no "commercial" or "tagline" - he said that people want real knowledge. Each person would be given three minutes to talk about something inspiring or informational. At the conclusion of the five speakers, everyone there would vote on the talk they liked the best, and that person would be invited the next time to speak longer (as someone had done earlier at this event).

He also mentioned that IF you gave a commercial or a tagline, you would be "gonged" and you would be done.

Amazingly to me, with the clear instruction, one person WAS gonged. It seems that some of us get so wrapped up in going on and on about what we do that we don't think about how this is coming off to the receiver of the information.

The other four were pretty good, being that it was not pre-planned. I imagine each one would have enhanced their talk if they had an opportunity to prepare. What great lessons though - Follow the guidelines when given the opportunity to present in front of a room Think about what an impression you can leave with a short, compelling talk about information or ideas instead of promo, promo, promo.

Realize how the world is changing - it is getting harder to get in front of a prospective customer until they are ready to consider you - what a change in business.

Overall, I really liked this concept - so refreshing to participate in something with a twist - that is fresh and interesting. The event turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

The next monthly meeting will be on January 16th and anyone who attends will need to bring an invitation, which they handed out. SeattleNetwork.net is looking for quality, not quantity of participants. I like that too.

 

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Reported by Lori Richardson, networking resource for the Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska. If you know of a great networking organization or "super connector" that Lori should know about, please email her. Lori helps B2B companies increase sales and ultimately, profits through Score More Sales, a sales effectiveness organization. She also works as a fundraising auctioneer and loves the Pacific Northwest