toronto stories

networking around town

I have been trying really hard to get out to meet new people and to socialize for the sake of sanity and in the hopes of finding a lead to my next job. One event that came up over the weekend involved networking as well as a panel of speakers - an all women group with unusual careers - this included Chan Hon Goh of the National Ballet of Canada. I was extremely interested in going to hear her speak and even managed a photo with her. But I digress. The most interesting part of the evening were the people. I almost decided not to go as the weather had turned crummy (i.e. rainy) and apparently a lot of people thought the same as I was told it was a smaller than usual crowd, although I'd say there were about 50 people at least.

The person who told me about the event was unable to attend (funny how that happened with another event the last time - with a different person telling me about the event). So I went by myself and luckily bumped into a girl who happened to arrive at the same time as myself. We ended up sticking with each other most of the night. Apart from the event being poorly organized (i.e. speakers started super late, hors d'oeuvres consisted of 3 plates with pita bread and carrot sticks), it was a great way to meet new people. There was this lone white guy who came to introduce himself to us. I shook his hand politely and turned away to speak with another person. He continued to speak with my new-found friend, and clung to her all night. I thought to myself, "Dude, this is a networking event, not speed-dating." and whispered to the girl that he was probably here just to pick people up. I was disgusted. The guy was 40+ (44 she confirmed) and at the end of the night, gave her a peck on the cheek. She basically told him she was booked til December. Hilarious but sad, so sad.

posted by toronto girl @ 11:04 PM