The Importance of Networking

Before I moved to Traverse City, I had heard of Networking Events. I had seen them in movies. I had even heard talk of some of my peers attending them. They always seemed like swanky after work cocktail parties where everyone knows everyone else in attendance and they all have a fabulous carefree after-work celebration wearing only the best new business attire.

I knew that once I was a part of the working-post graduate world, I too would have to be a part of these networking events. This terrified me. My work clothes only got as sophisticated as the occasional outfit from Banana Republic (which is still absolutely one of my favorite work numbers to date). I was convinced that I would be completely out of my element.

Upon starting my life as a Young Professional, however, I found out that I was slightly misinformed. While I was beyond nervous walking into my first networking night, Business After Hours, I walked out at the conclusion of the event breathing a sigh of relief...and with twenty new business cards in hand.

Macaila, another TCYP, and I at The Cherry Festival YP social event.
Source: National Cherry Festival

Traverse City Networking Events are such an essential part of fitting into the professional community- especially as a younger member of the area. They have provided me with not only a chance to introduce myself to a ton of business owners, but also have allowed me to strengthen the connections I have already started to make by giving me a chance to catch up with individuals I crossed paths with in the past.

These networking nights have given me a chance to establish myself in a new town. True, they can be intimidating at first, but as long as you hold your own and make your presence known, you're golden. You cannot go into an event expecting people to flock to you because you're a fresh face (which was my first mistake...luckily Allison Beers made me aware that this would not work well for me early on). Once I made my introductions, I felt so much more comfortable and was able to chat about work and possible connections with ease.

Networking has given me an easy way to socialize with like-minded individuals and create lasting connections at the same time. I'm a huge advocate of multi-tasking, so clearly I'm a big fan of this...plus, the food is always exceptional. There really is nothing not to like!

Today marks my seventh month living in Traverse City and working with Events North. Thanks to both my job at Events North and networking events like Business After Hours and TCYP Social Events, I usually say hello and stop for a quick chat with someone every time I walk down Front Street.

And let me tell you- It's a great feeling.

Learning that Smartphones are not always smart.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that while in college, I was glued to my iPhone. I would go out to dinner with friends and be texting someone who was not in attendance the entire time. I would go over a friend's house to watch a movie and would have no idea what occurred during the film because I was too busy checking my phone. If my ringtone went off, there was absolutely no way that I could ignore it. I simply HAD to check it right that second.

A young professional stuck to their iPhone?! Shocking, I know.

However, one of the main adjustments to living my young adult, career-woman life was learning that having your eyes glued to your phone 24/7 is just plain rude. What was once my saving grace in three hour lectures is now completely unacceptable in meetings and presentations. I have finally come to realize that I am not fooling anyone by having my phone in my lap...everyone knows it's there (C'mon... Pants are not that interesting).

Let's backtrack to January, when I was still having a really hard time accepting the concept of not texting my friends from Florida during work hours and not skimming Facebook every five minutes to see status updates of what everyone was eating for lunch. When I started my internship at Events North, one of the first things my lovely boss, Allison Beers, told me is that there is minimal texting during work hours. My first reaction was "UGH!" and I still snuck in a few more texts than I should here and there.

...but I quickly realized that in the world of Event Planning, taking time out of what you're doing to answer a text completely throws off your work-groove. One of the key factors to my job is to remain organized and not overlook small details, which is almost impossible to do if you're constantly distracted.

So, fast forward to the current time. I now realize that going out to dinner with someone and leaving your phone on vibrate in your purse so you can spend time with the person you are physically with is the only way to do it. Turning my phone off before meetings is something that I just do automatically now. It's not only embarrassing if I forget to turn it off and my ringtone, Tom Petty's "American Girl," goes off during an important meeting, it's just a courteous thing to do.

Oh, and if you text or call me for personal reasons during the work hour, you shouldn't plan on getting a response. Don't take it personally, but I realized that my productivity skyrockets when I'm not recapping the Bachelorette or making small talk. Plus, I love my job and I plan on sticking around for a while.

...unless you're my Mom. Even as a Young Professional, I will still always take calls from my Mom.