So I made a pact with self that 2016 is going to be that year that I wear my networking skirts, dresses, stockings and heels in the quest to get more business. I added onto my Vision Board a picture lifted from one of my many WhatsApp groups with a lady in fancy bootstrap heels and a skirt suit that spell business acumen.
Walk with me. My first networking event in 2016 is at the fancy Dusit Restaurant somewhere along Riverside Drive in Westlands, Nairobi. In 2016 I also have a stylist who gets me nice affordable pieces here and there. The brief that went out for my networking look was that I wanted the business-like version of Mary J Blige. So she gets me skirts and tops that are subtle, funky and give me an edge. For the day, I settle for a short, circular but decent blue skirt with red stripes in the front. It’s divine and classy, exaggerating my very minimalist curves.
For the rest of the look I go for a fuchsia top and yellow wedges, nothing like colour block to uplift your spirits and give you a free face lift. I however throw in a black jacket to soften the blue-red-fuschia and yellow. What’s more it’s a cold day in January.
Too much time getting dressed translates to extra minutes in Nairobi’s rush hour. The roads are gridlocked and getting to Westlands in the evening from the other side of town is a fete. In retrospect, if I took half the time deciding on the shoes to adorn I would not be in this traffic nightmare.
So as expected, I’m an hour late for the event. It’s an award ceremony and we have to do some red-carpet pictures before heading for the mini-bar, which is now deserted as people have already taken their seats.
At any mini-bar when you are choosing between the red wine or cranberry juice, that’s when the iron is hottest and time to strike easy conversation and exchange a card or two.
Just like that, opportunity finds me unprepared. I lose major networking points.
The mini-bar is also a case of depreciating resources; I get the absolute remnants of what seems like pineapple juice. The main event is also kicking off and getting a seat is problematic. I get a spot behind a camera operator who by default is blocking my view as he leans over his equipment. I now look at my phone sticky notes. It has my hit list of people to chat up for the evening. I try and spot where they are sitting but it’s a long shot. A good majority are front liners. At this point I feel I won’t be saying hi to them, leave alone exchange cards.
I then zone in and out of the program unveiling before me, one of the Emcees has zero creativity and is reading from a piece of paper. Who does that in this gadget age? Maybe I’m just annoyed and looking for places to displace my anger, this sets precedence for the evening that I barely enjoy, my goal for coming in the first place seems like a faraway glassy mirage.
Then Bam! Before the event is over we have to leave, something about car-pooling. That reminds me, why didn’t I buy a car in 2008? I’m furious that my hit list for tonight will remain that, a HIT LIST. I’d spotted someone I wanted to chat up who was a table away from me, but now it’s a case of too little too late.
Beggars can’t be choosers, this joint is way deep in suburbia and it’s close to midnight. I don’t want to lose my yellow heels to someone hiding in the thicket, as I make it to the bus-stop.
My two cents Networking lessons for the night – keep time if you want to network, meet new people and eventually get new business. Then get a car for Pete’s sake – in cash, you’ve been working for what? 8 years? It’s not a luxury, that’s a fact you can cash at the bank.
