After-thoughts on the networking event...
Submitted by matt on Fri, 01/25/2008 - 1:34am.
So does anyone have any comments, ideas, suggestions regarding the networking event held last night at Cirrus Logic?
Did people like the venue? The food? Any problems?
Did you think the event was worthwhile? Did you meet people who matched well with your professional interests?
For job seekers & recruiters, did you get some leads?
Just looking for general feedback, and of course ideas + suggestions are always welcome.
Matt
--
The event last night was one of the best I have attended.
I recently relocated to Austin with my company and did not know what to expect. I was impressed, social group, live music and good food.
Thanks again!
I look forward to the next event.
Have a great weekend!!
Brooke Anderson
Modis IT
http://www.linkedin.com/in/banderson
Great networking synergy! I made some good new contacts and hopefully connecting a few then and there. It was one of the best I'd ever attended.
My complements to our host Cirrus Logic. We filled its building, but it didn't seem terribly overcrowded.
The food was great (I love Triumph Cafe), but quickly found that it's more finger food and didn't work well when shaking many hands, even among techies.
The band was decent, but too loud for this type of event. I think "background music" is better for talking over, and have enjoyed string quartets playing classics (and even instrumentalized Beatles).
Thanks Matt (et al)!
- John
I thought it was a great event. I met a lot of cool people and made some promising contacts. I agree about the music, it was a bit loud. Frankly, I'm not there to listen to live music anyway. Over all, I thought it went well, and I look forward to the next one!
--
Christopher Iamele
Email: ciamele at austin dot rr dot com
Thanks everyone for the comments. Understand re: the band, and also about the finger food. I had to wash my hands a few times too. Maybe fork-food would be better next time.
Tell me - did the colored stars on the name tags do any good? The idea was to help people of similar backgrounds find each other. No, it wasn't to denote how many drinks you had... :)
Matt
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I thought the stars were a neat touch.
Along those lines, here's an idea: how about offering pre-printed name stickers for users that RSVP via a Web form? That way, you could print everyone's name, company and top functional areas right on the same sticker. At 8-12 per sheet, that's only 34-50 sheets; in about 5 stacks sorted by last name, that could even speed up the line at the entry table.
- John
The colored stars helped me out, and I think that should be done again. Though I'd rather not have a pre-printed name tag because it keeps me from writing something creative on it.
--
Christopher Iamele
Email: ciamele at austin dot rr dot com
Glad the stars worked out. Would like to know if others used the stars for more effective networking.
I do appreciate the comment about the printed name tags. The only issue is that I'd have to collect a lot more information per person. For example, I have to get name, company, interests or background, etc. If I had the infrastructure for that, I would...but evite doesn't give me that capability. In fact, evite was getting on my case because my invitee list was huge (>1000 people). However, with everyone that responded, they were finally OK with it. They want to make sure I'm not using their system to spam-o-gram a huge group of folks.
Matt
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Ditto here on the music. The star thing (for me) was a little sad because I was an 'other' with a silver star.
In general I enjoyed the event and thought the food was very good.
Definite thumbs up on the beer selection (I love Fireman's 4).
whether this one was that one or that one was this one
or which one was what one... or what one was who."
Drinks, food, music -- who could possibly complain?
I'm no beer snob, but I noticed that the Fireman's 4 went first, the Miller Lite went last.
Stars or tags help mix things up of course.
If you want to "keep Austin weird" try:
- name tags on backs, arms, or paper hats
- black lights and flourescent markers
- tags or pens you can only see with secret decoder ring or magic lens
- enter your biz card for a chance to introduce yourself to the crowd
- nametag as a riddle
- skillset treasure hunt
And Audrey: Please wear your "other" star proudly.
~ Ms. G
Yet Another Austin Wierdo
What does Miller Lite have to do with anything... I thought we were talking about beer, not bottled water?
:-)
Missed this one but looking forward to the next one.
Hopefully the next one will be either north or at least central, south Austin is too far for me to make it...
Well since I live South (Oak Hill) and work North (183 / Duval) I can't imagine a location that wouldn't work for me -- except maybe Round Rock or Pflugerville.
:-)
Hopefully it will be east or at least centrl, south austin would be my third choice and N Austin would be dead last.
East? Well, I live in the Pflugerville area which is technically east... but there is a lot of East Austin I'd just as soon avoid. Central the problem is usually lack of parking for events to the point that some have had to do valet. What do you have against North Austin? The events at Triumph Cafe and Joe DiMaggio's seemed to be fairly well attended.
I live in Cedar Creek, which is almost as east as east gets. I guess I like S Austin cause I'm a beer drinkin' hippie in a van. And I seem to find work there which is very strange.
Cedar Creek is far enough east to be past the bad parts... So far since coming to the Austin area I've worked in Lakeway, then Westlake and now out by 620/2222.
We're at other ends of the world.
Well, I commute from Pflugerville to 620/2222 every day... and that is a lot better than when I used to commute to either Lakeway or Westlake... Unfortunately it seems like all the places I work at are way too expensive to live anywhere near. There seem to be few decent opportunities within a short commute.
I've found the commute from East Austin much easier than the commute from N Austin (eg. try driving in to town on 183 from N Austin vs the drive in on Hwy 71 from Bastrop.) It's actually quicker to get to most places in Austin from where I am than from NW Austin. 20 minutes to downtown. And now we have Loop 130 (woo woo) so I can get to Fry's faster to empty my wallet.
It is only 15 or 20 minutes to downtown from my house, and Fry's is less than 10 minutes away. I never, ever drive toll roads.
It sounds like Central works for the majority.
Works for me.
OnRamp happy hour Thursday
At the risk of being off-topic: does everyone know about the OnRamp Access/Tek Systems happy hour?
It's this Thursday 5-7pm at Iron Cactus north (10001 Stonelake Blvd. Austin, TX). I've gotten a bunch of postcards about it announcing free drinks and a PSP giveaway. RSVP to OnRamp.
I've heard of OnRamp but not Tek Systems. I rsvp'ed and got a nice map.
I'd love to do another one at Triumph, but with the 400 person turn-out at our last on in January....that does limit the venues available to me.
Triumph as a great location (well, it still is) - it's more central to where people work, and easy to access. If there's any suggestions, let me know. I'm looking to do another one in the next month or so.
Matt
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Finally, a HH in this area. BTW, TekSystems is a recruiting firm.
How about Ruta Maya on SoCo, it's a pretty good size space with wifi.
I noticed people in the video standing around acting like they were looking for someone. They really know no one but are just trying to not look like a loser...er loner. Not that I have ever felt this way...loser not loner.
Suggestion: have a hot spot where loners can hang out and talk to others. If you are alone for x minutes someone escorts you to the mingle-ring, network-hub, etc...throughout the evening everyones star color is called and they must report to the area64 to meet someone new.
See, we can have weird ideas in Dallas too!
Register to win a free car! www.threeminutestory.com
Headhunter/Cowboy Pastor John Myers stepbeyond.com narrowtrail.org
Here are some more lone-ness-avoidance ideas:
At the last happy hour, I noticed this fellow's tag that said (I thought) "Project Mer." Intrigued, I went up and asked him "What's Project Mer?". Turns out it was "Project Mgr," but we had a great conversation anyway.
Take some risks, be open, and Keep Austin Weird.
~ Ms. G
Yet Another Austin Weirdo
Those are great ideas. The sticker ideas have got me thinking. Hmm...