My business was recently invited to a pre-opening reception at a new, swanky restaurant. The wording on my invitation said “thought this might be a good networking opportunity for you. We’re inviting a variety of businesses, and wanted to make sure we included women-owned businesses. We hope you can come and have a cocktail, make some great contacts and enjoy the reception. Thanks!”
Now, I realize that networking events, receptions, etc. are hit-or-miss, and you shouldn’t pin too much on the outcome, ever. With that in mind, I RSVP’ed, dressed accordingly, and we headed out.
Well, when we arrived, about 30 minutes after the reception had begun, the place was packed. We were directed to the bar area for our particular reception. Here’s the problem. The bar area was tiny, and it was crowded. Folks were either buried in their plates, watching the televisions, or sitting at high-tops with their friends. I looked around. Where were the business people? Why was everyone wrapped up in their own world?
My partner and I looked at each other. “Looks like your invite was just some cleverly worded marketing,” he sighed. We left.
Now, this is kind of stuck in my craw. This restaurant invited not just my business but several others, and we had discussed it on our network board as to whether it was legit and who might consider going.
I can understand inviting us to get people to try you, talk about you, come back with friends. Even business lunches. But what I have a problem with is the wording on the invite. Was it deceptive? Hard to know…but if everyone in the bar was a business owner, and they received the same worded invite I did, then did they fail as businesspeople?
Way I see it, I have one of three ways to go: the invite was worded with the best intentions and the business owners who responded screwed up by focusing on their drinks, their friends, and their televisions
OR
the invite was deceptively worded and businesses were invited along with the general public, thus diluting any networking opportunities
OR
???
This isn’t a rant per se…just an observation about planning events and planning invites. But for some reason, I left feeling a bit duped.
*shaking head sadly*
Would you like to come to my free dinner event? All you have to do to qualify for a free dinner is stay and listen to a brief presentation about timeshare investment opportunities!