Chicago After Work & Video Killed the Wordsmith
Chicago After Work Networking Event @ The Griffin Lounge
Karl and I attended the Chicago After Work networking and socializing event on Thursday, May 20 at the Griffin Lounge. Geared toward young business professionals, Chicago After Work hosts a networking event every 2-3 weeks at some of Chicago’s premier bars, hotels and nightclubs. Each event ranges in size from 250-350 people and features an open bar along with appetizers.
Keeping true to the tagline on their giant banner, Chicago After Work is “networking with a different point of view.â€
Upon entering, every event attendee receives a name tag color-coated by industry intended to help with searching for other industry-specific networkers. I spotted a few people doubling up on name tags (blue for entrepreneur with yellow for healthcare and whatnot). Their color system was quite vast and I found it hard to match up colors with industries without running back to the giant sign at the entrance. It reminded me of the terror alert system, which means that us marketing people (red is our color) are at severe risk of attack. Perhaps I should have put every color on.
Making our way through the crowded entrance, Karl and I made a beeline for food. Along the way, we found a few business card drop boxes including one for You Swoop, which is a Chicago-based deal-a-day service that offers one amazing deal (called a “swoopâ€) of the day from a Chicago business. We didn’t win the drawing, but I picked up a squishy ball for my co-workers to throw around the office.
With food in sight, I enjoyed satay in the Crystal Room and then went on a mission to socialize. I got approached by a few marketing people in the Atrium where we discussed marketing tactics and product development amid red velvet couches, medieval chained lighting and elegant fabrics.
Beyond the appetizers and drinks, this event also offered chair massages from Red Door Spa as well as mixology and sushi making classes from I Wish Lessons. I decided to try my hand at making sushi. While my roll looked flawless, cutting it into six pieces was a problem. My knife was not very sharp, so my sushi turned out a bit squished. Nevertheless, I met a few interesting people as I rolled up some rice and cucumbers.
Overall, the Chicago After Work event was a great networking opportunity for creating and expanding business connections as well as opportunities. I only have two suggestions: 1) create a card with all of color codes for attendees to take with them and 2) devise a game in order to encourage more socializing.
Oh and on a side note, I tried to get video of this event with the new Flip Video SlideHD. For that particular night, video killed the wordsmith. Not to worry, she’ll conquer it soon enough.
Grammatically yours,
LM Word Girl
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Johnny Mathis – CEO, Karl Tatgenhorst. Karl Tatgenhorst said: I went to a #chicagoafterwork a couple weeks ago with the #livemercial word girl, she blogged it: http://bit.ly/c6AMLG [...]