TPUNA: Doing Laps At The Chamber Event

The Pick Up Networking Artist (Manuscript)

At the age of 45 I found myself suddenly out of a job. I had lived in Maine for over a decade but never had gotten to know anyone. Like many of you I thought I had job security. I had heard the word networking before but honestly had no clue what it meant and why do it. You see I was in IT (Information Technology) we are stereotypically loners. I loved just going into my own world and staying there. Did I have friends, yes, but my wife was actually the one who corresponded with them. I didn’t even have a cell phone until I was 44. I didn’t need one; I didn’t really talk to many people. You see I was really shy and an introvert. Many of you who know me now have just fallen off your chair laughing. We’ll it is true. I was hired by a friend to do the marketing for a local restaurant. I had been involved in Market Research for nearly 20 years so I didn’t think there was much to it. I was solicited by the Chamber of Commerce to join and I would meet lots of people who would want catering and eat at my restaurant. I went to the event expecting lots of people would see my shiny new face and introduce themselves. After the 8th lap around the venue, I was getting discouraged. I thought I better make the first move. I saw another person circling the other way to I stopped him and exchanged cards and talked about the chamber and food. This so took me out of my comfort zone I had to go home. I tried to find some sort information on the internet about networking but they all seemed to assume your outgoing. This wasn’t the case for me.  What follows is my story and how I became a Networking artist. (To be continued)

Fred Abaroa aka “CostaVidaFred”
The Marketing Imagineer

fred [@]costavidafred.com 

Twitter:
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