So there we were at lunch today me and Kathy, a fellow Rotarian, as we sized up the room and got the lay of the land. We were at a local chamber of commerce business luncheon and expo with the purpose of recruiting new members and really didn’t know what to expect. So we found a table that was in the center of the room and just a few people already seated. We asked if we could join them and they were very friendly and accommodating.
After all of the introductions and pleasantries had been completed a lady asked if the two seats to my immediate left were taken. I of course wanted to be as friendly as our new acquaintances and nodded my head and help the lady move out the chair.
There was something about this lady that got my attention but I just couldn’t figure it out what. She was a blond lady like I have never seen before but not the kind you would read about in an Alan May post. Her eyes were scanning the room like a spotlight that you would see in an old prison movie and every time I mad eye contact with her, our eyes would lock for a second or two and off again in another direction.
After the meeting had started a lady arrived and took the chair to my immediate left. The business part of this meeting was fairly brief and the chicken and mashed potato lunches arrived almost like the Blue Angel’s at the conclusion of the National Anthem, a sporting event. When lunch was over the lady to my left introduced herself and we commenced in the typical banter you would come to expect at an event like this.
When I asked her for her business card she told me that she didn’t bring any and I could walk over to her exhibit when lunch was over and get some of the goodies they were passing out. Great, I’ll just smash that little plastic piggy bank with my foot and if her name and number comes clean, I will stick it in my wallet and hope not to cut myself when I pull out my debit card.
I handed her my Real Estate card because I don’t have any special ones for Rotary. I don’t think I had my fingers completely removed from the card when our blond friend with the laser beam eyes locked on to the Coldwell Banker logo and said “ You know the problem with all of the forclosure is because of the Reagan era”.
As some of you know I can be rather quick witted at times and come back with a sharp answer but this time I just stopped. I stopped and stared at 
this woman like a deer in headlights. I didn’t know where she got that from or where she was going with it. She told me that I should watch the movie Wall Street then started quoting John F. Kennedy.
I had never heard the quotes before and all I know is that I had a fruit cup on my plate, another one two chairs away from me and I couldn’t get out of that room fast enough.
These two ladies definitely needed a do’s and dont’s cheat sheet for networking events.
- Be on time.
- Bring plenty of business cards.
- Don’t hi-jack the conversation.
- And never, never, never express your political views to a total stranger.
Kathy and I said our goodbyes and headed off to work our booth and hopefully be nowhere near our two new friends. Once we got out of the banquet room I turned to Kathy and said “ Next time I’m choosing the table location” She replied “ O.K. but I’m choosing the booth location because their booth is right next to ours. No good deed ever goes unpunished.
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