Santa Barbara has a vibrant business community and last week Downtown Santa Barbara, The Chamber of the Santa Barbara Region, Hospitality Santa Barbara, Goleta Valley Chamber and Visit Santa Barbara hosted their 3rd Annual ‘Mega Mixer’ at one of Santa Barbara’s newest and most innovative co-working spaces, Impact Hub Santa Barbara!
This event was definitely well organized with great food, drink, entertainment and a sold out crowd of Santa Barbara’s finest professionals. This was an event not to be missed!
I’d been looking forward to this event for well over a month but wouldn’t you know it, come the big day, I had laryngitis. That’s right; I couldn’t speak a word (which is VERY unusual for me). I was so disappointed to miss this event, but wait, I had an IDEA and my friend Michael Kramer, Owner of Ameravant Web Design captured it on video…
I decided to come prepared with cue cards and I literally tapped people on the shoulder, waved hello, gave them my business card and started to flash my (no, not those) my cue cards that read:
- Sorry, I can’t talk, I have laryngitis đ
- Are you in a relationship?
- I would love to talk with you when I have a voice…Can I have your business card?
Well what a shock, I came away with 15 cards of which several are potential matches for my current clients and a couple may be new clients! Woo hoo, I’ve never had such a successful outcome at a networking event before. Who knew not talking could be this fun and yes, I got plenty of funny comments too, here are a couple of the best:
- Wow, you’re the perfect date, you look great, you keep smiling at me and you can’t talk back.
- I bet your husband loves the silence!
I learned a big lesson, instead of staying home and moping because I was missing out, I decided to show up and make the best of it. That pretty much sums up life and definitely dating. Take some time to get prepared, show up shining and with a great attitude, flash a smile and ta da, the results just might be better than you expected!
What challenges have you overcome? Please do share them with me and when my voice returns, maybe we can even talk about it ;).
Warmly,
Lisa