I went to InVision’s Design+ Drinks event in San Francisco and it didn’t suck…and you can do it too! Go alone. Be interesting. Be confident. Be organized. When it doubt, get a drink. It’s not that hard.
Go Alone
The first 90 seconds were the worst. I walked in confidently, got a drink and then realized that everyone was in an intense group conversation that was impossible to break into. I circled the rooftop three times. Each time I got more and more nervous. And then, out of nowhere, a girl came up to me and introduced herself! Hallelujah! After that, it was a breeze! Event workers are looking to help people connect and meet each other. When you go alone, people can’t ignore the fact that you need someone to talk to. By the end of the night I had made about ten friends who were saying “Hey Kayla” when they passed by me! A couple of them even told me that they admired my confidence in coming by myself to an event where I knew no one. This definitely helped me stick out in people’s minds the next day when I added them on LinkedIn.
Don’t be Embarrassed of Your Story
I’m an unemployed 26 year old housewife to a medical student and I have been bumming around on an island for the past two years. I was hoping to find a way out of explaining that to everyone, but I found that people loved hearing about it! I dream about having a job, they dream about the unemployed island life. I guess the grass is always greener. This talking point helped me stand out and was a refreshing change from the typical, boring work-talk.
Be Confident
Confidence is a state of mind. You can trick yourself into feeling confident.
The week before the event, I started talking about how great this event would be. I told people about how ready I was to talk to designers and how much fun it would be to meet people. I made sure to keep my chats with others positive. I didn’t tell anyone (not even myself) how nervous I was, or how unsure I was about my qualifications. I didn’t allow myself to fall into the trap of imposter syndrome. I continually told myself, “I am a great designer. They are going to love talking to me. I am going to love talking to them. This will be awesome.” If it wasn’t for this confident attitude, I don’t know if I would have showed up. When I start doubting myself, it usually spirals into skipping the event altogether.
Have Something to Say
Keep it simple. My opening line was “Hi, I’m Kayla, what’s your name?”. This, combined with a strong handshake was all I needed. The best way I met people was through the first few people I met. One of the InVision employees took me around to different people and introduced me. She would find a designer or interesting person and say “Have you met Kayla yet? She is interested in product design.” or “Have you met Kayla yet? She lives in the Caribbean!”. I can’t emphasis how helpful this was.
Get on Your Phone
Throughout most of the event I would strongly encourage you to put your phone away. You’re not trying to avoid conversations, you’re trying to create them. If you’re watching Instagram stories (no matter how tempting that might be) you’re not going to meet people. But don’t leave your phone at home. You’ll need your phone to write down everyone’s name and title so you can stalk them on LinkedIn when you get home. You might be so nervous-excited that you forget everyone’s name and in that case, you might as well have been on Instagram stories all night. It might be a little awkward, but get your phone out and sneak a peek at people’s name tags and write down their info. You’ll thank yourself later! I now have over a dozen new contacts on LinkedIn who might be able to help me land my dream job.
When in Doubt, Drink
Though the whole night went well. There was one point where I ran out of people to talk to and felt a little awkward. Luckily I had the instinct to get in the drink line and talk to the first person who jumped in line behind me. I ended up meeting a product designer for Uber! Most people who get in line for the bar by themselves are in the exact same spot you are. They are awkward and looking for something to do or someone to talk to. If your networking event doesn’t have a bar…why are you even there?
Be Observant
My name tag had a bright pink lanyard attached. I realized that most of the people had bright pink lanyards on their name tags, but a few people had black lanyards. At first I thought it was random, but then I realized that InVision employees had black lanyards and everyone else had pink lanyards. This detail helped me focus on my goal of meeting as many InVision employees as I could. Depending on your goals for that event, that detail could help you waste valuable networking time.
I had so much fun at InVision’s Design + Drinks. I met some amazing people, while drinking free cocktails at a cool San Francisco rooftop bar. It’s amazing what a optimistic, confident attitude can do for you. Good luck!
