Um Hello?

So I (Adam) went to get my hair cut last night. I checked in and the receptionist, who was no Pam Beesly, told me to “Have a sit over there.” I went “over there” and there were four people (3 women and 1 guy) already having a “sit”. As I walked over I noticed that they all were doing the same thing – four heads buried down using their iPhone/Blackberry/PDAs – probably catching up on email, work, the latest from Perez or something about the new stimulus plan or Octomom.

What else struck me was that not one of them looked up as I sat down. I could have been George Clooney (although everyone knows I’m better looking than he is) and I don’t think it would have mattered.   

Why am I talking about this?

Because you never know who you might meet.

And what is wrong with old-fashioned networking?

And I don’t even want to think about what this says about us as a culture . . .

Even with everyone complaining about how business is slow and new business is tough, I saw this as a great setting for meeting new people.

This is what went through my head –

What if one of them worked for a printing company? Our agency is always looking for a good printer to partner with (unfortunately what many printers have in skills and technology they lack in customer service) If we got talking they may have gotten an appointment to meet with our agency.

What if one of them was looking for a George Clooney look-a-like for a new you tube video about super-attractive people. They would have missed out on a fantastic and inexpensive opportunity.

What I did since no one would give me the time of day – I talked with the receptionist. We talked about the weather of all things. I found out that she vacations in my hometown in the summer. We started playing the name game and the next thing I know – Not-Beesly knows a person I have been trying to get an appointment with. BOOM. Connection made – a possible client – just because I said hello.

Photo credit, Matalyn