Well Seasoned The Podcast
Well Seasoned The Podcast
Social Networking for the Socially Distanced
This week Staceyann and Patrick cap off their WEC recap and discuss how to network with soul at virtual, live and hybrid events. Be kind, people. Patrick says Ellen said that.
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The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue, a thing distinctly hard to say and harder still to do. A rat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tat tattoo tattoo tattoo. A quarter to two today at a quarter or two to two. A thing distinctly hard to say and harder still to do.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Wowwwwwwww.
Patrick Brochu:We ready? Listen, if you're going to be a professional podcaster with me-
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:That was so much.
Patrick Brochu:-you just have to be ready for your morning exercises.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yo that was so much. I don't even... Wow. It's so damn early.
Patrick Brochu:Yes.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Welcome to Well Seasoned the Podcast. I am Stacey.
Patrick Brochu:And I'm Patrick.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Let's be honest with the people. We recorded an episode and we didn't like it so... We're here Again. Because we only delive the best. Right, Patrick
Patrick Brochu:That is correct. I feel like in the last episode- the episode that will never
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Nope. Mmm mmm. Not doing it.
Patrick Brochu:-- we weren't as prepared for that episode, we were kind of rambling. But I think we've cleaned up our act and yeah, and here we are back.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:We cleaned it up for six o'clock in the morning, yeyah. Have you recovered from WEC?
Patrick Brochu:You know, I have, and I didn't feel like my conference, quote unquote, hangover lasted as long as it normally does, because you're not talking as much as normal. And I know that we did our recap episode already. But as I've digested the conference a little bit more, there are some things that I thought about that we didn't really talk about in the actual recap episode. And one of those things is, it was great to be around people. But it was weird. It was awkward at times. And as a I'm doing my quotation fingers, guys, leader in the industry being an MPI chapter president, you know that we're here to advocate for getting back in person. But at the same time, there were some moments that were just awkward.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:Being around that many people and people are in masks and people are behind Plexiglas and you wearing your mask and you can't hear and you're like what, and I remember a few times tun Stacey, this is the WEC that I knew the least amount of people. And Stacey was like, No, Patrick, you probably know a lot of these people. You're just not recognizing them. Because you're, you're only seeing from their eyes. Yeah, I think that's probably true. And I found that in my reflection going back. And I feel like people were in their pods of just people that they knew which I normally advocate totally against.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:But in this particular scenario, I get it. People wanting to be around people that they knew and trusted that had also been staying safe. There were some moments that were just awkward. I mean, what did you feel?
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:I felt the same way. Unlike you, I can stay with the same person the whole time, because I'm afraid of meeting new people. But this one was very extreme, just really not knowing anyone and I'm someone who I need to see the face because I'm not good with names either. And so I felt like extremely handicapped because I had nothing to go off of. Yeah, I will say it's funny though. The one thing that happens after every single conference, is I lose my voice and I lost my voice for like two days. And I don't know how that was.
Patrick Brochu:It's probably because you were trying to scream through the mask.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Probably. And you know, taking off the mask when you can't hear because that's how it works. But it was a weird WEC. I didn't get to see half the people I would love to see. But with all that said, they did a great job executing the event.
Patrick Brochu:Oh, absolutely. And I think what I'm saying, you know, isn't really a reflection of how the conference was done. And I know that's what you're saying either but I think the conference was absolutely spectacular in what they did and how they did it. There were things that we talked about the last episode that we didn't think about that they did. Shout out to Lori Pugh and the rest of the team over there at MPI Global to put this on
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:PUGH. PUGH PUGH!
Patrick Brochu:Pew, pew, pew
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Pewpewpewpew!
Patrick Brochu:But you know, there's nothing that you can do about some of those awkward moments. So...
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:No.
Patrick Brochu:You know what, Stacey? At the end of our recap, we actually recorded that during WEC so I was promising everybody that I would give a recap of the final event because Stacey wasn't going but I drug Stacey out of that hotel.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah, man. I'm big mad.
Patrick Brochu:I dragged her. She was kicking and screaming
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:and I was upset. I was mad.
Patrick Brochu:And then Stacey gets on the bus. Stacey's like, okay, okay, okay, we're on the bus and she looks so tired. And then all of a sudden, Stacey's like, so how long is the ride out here and somebody was like 30 to 40 minutes.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And I lost it.
Patrick Brochu:You're going from Grapevine to Arlington. And she absolutely freaked out and was like No, and she threatened to just get right back on the same bus and turn around.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:So bad.
Patrick Brochu:It was at Arlington. They had like a little area in-
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Texas Live.
Patrick Brochu:-yeah, in between the Texas Rangers Stadium and the Cowboys Stadium. There's this big Texas Live venue. They had a live band going on.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:The band was amazing.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah the band was great. Stacey stayed a lot longer than I thought, they had different bars at different beverages at them. Everybody was socially distance wearing masks. I remember those little tacos. They were really good. Yeah. And they came with a little mini bottle of tequila. And all I was thinking is man, they were really trying to get us. A little bitty taco came with a whole bottle of tequila. They had that. And then after you left Stacey, they had fireworks.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Shut your face!
Patrick Brochu:Yeah, behind the band there were live fireworks. But it's funny because one of those event things I'm not sure if they told the band what was gonna happen.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh!
Patrick Brochu:Because as I'm watching the band, the lead singers are going they're doing their thing. The drummer's fine, but the horns I see them like look behind them, like what the heck? They're like tapping each other on the shoulder and pointing.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh my god!
Patrick Brochu:Nobody told the band, you know, and it was like pop pop pop pop.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah, no, it was nice. I found myself at a table where nobody else was, sat myself right there. And then I was like-
Patrick Brochu:with Petey Pete! Shout out Petey Pete!
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Pete you get shout outs in two episodes? Y'all. Okay, seriously, y'all need to really call Pete Cancila with Caesars Atlantic City property. Shout out to Pete. He is the best. That's my shout out for the day. Look at me!
Patrick Brochu:Not a sponsor yet.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh my god. But give Pete a call. Great property, great person. Give Pete a call.
Patrick Brochu:Not a sponsor.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh my god. Can't stand you. But I was like, I'm tired. I want to go home. I had to wake up at 330 to catch a six o'clock flight.
Patrick Brochu:Petey Pete was big time with you guys. He took you and another friend of mine that was there with you guys. And you guys, instead of taking the shuttle back, you guys took a little UberXL Black.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:In style. Ow. Ow.
Patrick Brochu:Meanwhile, you guys know how I am. I was literally the last person on the very last bus leave.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:That's why I wasn't messing with the I'm like you go ahead and stay by not playing with them. Of course you were the last person my god.
Patrick Brochu:So Stacey, let's get into today's topic. Oh, happy anniversary, Stacey. Happy anniversary. This is our 10th episode.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Awwww. I'm like What? Oh, god do I need to call Rocci?
Patrick Brochu:The look on her face, guys.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:I just had some fear like Oh no. Thanks, Patrick.
Patrick Brochu:Happy 10th episode. This is officially our 10th episode. And I'm so happy. And for those of you guys that are dedicated listeners and know that I had a counting error on a past episode where I was like, oh, Stacey, this is like our seventh or eighth or whatever it was. I know I got some messages about that. That was because we recorded those out of order from which one came out. So I was still right on the number of episodes. It was just which one came out before the okay. You-You people, you people. You know who you are.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:You call people out now. Mmm mmm.
Patrick Brochu:So anyway, Happy 10th episode,
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh happy 10th episode, but I'm gonna let those people know that you called them out.
Patrick Brochu:Put some respect on my name.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh. I hate you so much Birdman.
Patrick Brochu:Inside joke. Okay go ahead.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:The episode we're bringing to you guys today has to do with networking. And we thought that was really important because events are starting to come back together again. We just last episode talked about MPI WEC event that was in Grapevine, Texas. And we're all doing these online networking sessions or just online events. And, you know, it's really important that we still continue to network, even as the networking field changes, from physical to digital to hybrid. Usually, we would start off with asking people about how they would introduce themselves at first. So if you're in a typical event, it might be Hey, Patrick, how you doing? I name is Stacey. I'm an event planner, corporate event planner. I work for this medical company, I stay pretty high level with it.
Patrick Brochu:The elevator pitch.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:The elevator pitch. Exactly. But what makes that elevator pitch actually memorable? I mean, the same thing you hear 10-15 times whether you're in person or you're in a virtual world, and we're corporate planners, we're suppliers, nonprofit, but what actually makes that memorable to the person? Do you actually feel like you made a connection? I dunno know, Patrick, how you deal with that elevator pitch. Is it memorable to you? I turn Patrick with this because this is where Patrick excels and this is where I struggle is networking, right? And I need that common person. So Patrick, when you hear pitches like that, does that stick with you?
Patrick Brochu:If it's an insincere, it's like they're line in their scripts or whatever they're doing, it's not memorable to me. I wouldn't be able to remember of that Stacey and she works for whoever she works for and I don't quite remember what she did. I like to connect it with things. When I do mine, I like to keep it unscripted. And I actually relate this back to, if you're ever in a restaurant and you have a server or somebody, they come up to you and they sound so scripted, my wife and I, we always call it the server voice, then they go back into their script, every once in a while you can get them kind of out of it. And then they go back into their script. And then they're back into server voice.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Server voice also comes with a head nod tilt.
Patrick Brochu:Yes. Oh, yeah. I don't want to hear the same script, whatever. Make it memorable when you're doing your elevator pitch. Stacey and I, we actually did a session at CITE Global in Vancouver in January, we had a crowd of about 200-250 people. And we had all of them stand up and do their elevator pitch, whatever their stock elevator pitch was. And then afterwards, we talked to them and said, hey, what was memorable about that, and people in the crowd had a hard time remembering who was at their table.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And that was over, what, one minute?
Patrick Brochu:Yes, later, and they couldn't remember. And then we had them do it again, and try to find something that is relatable. Talk about something personal about yourself. I have a French bulldog, oh, I have a German Shepherd, not the same thing. But hey, we were both dog people, things like that. So we were trying to encourage people to find that common ground. And I know that's hard. And it can be awkward at the beginning. But that's something that we strongly encourage, because then you're going to be more likely to actually remember that person. And when they tell you what they do for a living, or how you guys can work together, collaborate, you're going to be more open to it and more receptive.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:It just shows that your elevator pitch can't be a stock pitch kind of how they say, you can't send the same cover letter to every single company, you got to customize it per company, your elevator pitch needs to be personal to you and that person that you're meeting. So we want to share some stats in regards to networking face to face, and how that can translate into a virtual world or a hybrid world. 72% of people say their impression of a person is first made by appearance, and/or handshake and that works in both a physical and virtual world. So in terms of appearance, don't be that person in sweat pants at a cocktail reception or with stains all over their shirt when everyone's looking all fresh and so clean. Don't be that person. Also, we talked about the wet clammy handshake all the time. And that is not how you want to be remembered is by that weak handshake. And then in the virtual world, we always say be cognizant of your background, be cognizant of what you're doing. If your camera's on and you're eating rice krispies, remember that, because you don't want to be the person on the Zoom call that's eating. You don't want to be the person on the Zoom call that has inappropriate things lining up behind them. You have a bike in clouds, which for some reason the clouds is what's getting me.
Patrick Brochu:Oh, no, it's a map. it's kind of washed out. There's there's-
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:That's not a map. Oh, it's a map.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah. Stacey's looking at my background behind me guys.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And see this is the memorable items. Memorable thing. So yeah, it's really important when you're networking. Everything matters. Your your appearance matters. Background matters. It all matters.
Patrick Brochu:I talked about this in a previous episode, too. It's a personal preference, but I like to get dressed up even when I'm working at home. I like to feel professional put on a polo. I have shorts on right now but I'm wearing a polo so I look presentable to people get out of your pajamas feel more comfortable. Unless of course you're at an event like SPINCon, where they have pajama parties.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Oh, well okay, SPINCon.
Patrick Brochu:That's the thing. Shout out to Shawna Suckow and her team over at SPIN.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Mmhmm.
Patrick Brochu:Unless you're attending a conference where something like that's happening, where if it's a Zoom event or a virtual event, and it's dressed like this or whatever, make yourself look presentable, make yourself look professional, because still, that first impression is just as important on a virtual or an in-person as ever.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And in our last session, just that WEC somebody was saying that their company now, because we're in the Zoom world, they have to update their company guidelines to include work appropriate attire for Zoom calls, because they see that people are taking advantage of the fact that they're at home, and of course your home so you're dressed more relaxed. If you're working with a casual team, you might be okay with T-shirts and jeans. They're saying that people are noticing that they're so comfortable that that's now translating to the external customer as well or people are just not dressed appropriately. So don't be that person. Don't be that person that the company has to change your guidelines because you're so relaxed. Also a networking stat, one in four people do not like to network. I am them. They are me. I hate networking. And it's hard. It's really hard, especially if you're in a room by yourself. You don't have your common person, a Patrick there that loves to network. If I go to an event by myself, I stay by myself. It is something that I literally have to force myself to do. Or as long as I have one person, I am okay with talking to people, but I really am not okay, networking on my own. Where Patrick, on the other hand, excels in a room where he knows no one, he wants to get out there and talk to people. And I know we've told our origin story 1000 times, but that is how we met. I was at a large event by myself sitting at a table by myself. And Patrick being the person that he is, when he goes to events, he does it right. He's not here to meet his friends. He's there to meet new people, he saw me sitting by myself. And that's how we met.
Patrick Brochu:I highly encourage it when, knock on wood, hopefully things get back to normal here pretty soon, but when you're attending your next event, walk into a room, I walk into rooms at these conferences, and I'll see tables of all of my friends. And I try to find a table with as many people that I don't know. And I just sit there and do my thing.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah. And in a virtual world, that chat box is your networking, it's a lot easier for me to engage in a chat box, it's to engage in person, I just attended another event, it was a virtual event. And people were really active in the chat box, connecting with names that they knew or just saying hi to the group. I felt comfortable jumping in there and just saying, Hey, everyone, Stacey from Reno, I'm looking forward to this event. Everyone kind of just jumped in and said, Yeah, looking forward to it. Nice to meet you. It's snowing out there. And the conversation started that way. So it's a lot easier if you're like me, and you struggle in a virtual world, use that chat box and get to know people.
Patrick Brochu:Another stat that's interesting is 41% of networkers want to network more, but they don't feel like they have enough time. And that's like me, in a regular world without COVID, I felt that way. I was like, hey, I want to get out and meet as many people as I can get to as many programs as I can as many conferences. But then when you're going to these conferences, you have a lot of follow-up and things to do. So I just didn't feel like I had enough time to be able to go to everything that I would have gone to. So I needed to figure out what things and try to really value which networking events I was going to. Fast forward into the COVID world at the beginning of this I was on every networking event virtually that I could possibly get to. And then after a while, it just became too much. Because then I started having a lot of follow up, oh, hey, you do virtual events. Here's a quote. Hey, I'm looking for somebody to do what you're talking about. Here's a quote. So I had a lot of things going on. So my strategy was working. But then I found myself going, Oh, well. Well, now I'm out working on this quote until eight, nine o'clock when Oh, there's another event, I could go meet somebody else I had to way off let me get through this or let me get to this other event and have somebody at my office helped me with this or whatever the case may be, so, 41% of people that like to network want to network more, but just don't have enough time.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Adding on to that, especially now, I don't want to say homeschooling but homeschooling your children or virtual learning, it's even harder for you to find time to do all that. I mean, right now we're recording at six o'clock in the morning, because this is the short window where Patrick's babies are in school. So yes, it becomes difficult. And you have to look at all the sessions that's out there, look at all the events that's out there and really weigh which one means the most to you. So you might have that standing happy hour meeting that you have going on, but you really wanted to go to WEC virtual hybrid events. You need to prioritize that because the happy hour meeting might be the same people you're always going to meet. The next meeting is the meeting where you're going to get to know someone new, or you might pick up some new information. So you do have to do some work with prioritizing your schedule, but it is worth it. 68% of entry level professionals value face-to-face networking more than online. It's true. And especially, as events come back, it's going to be even more. In our one session we had at WEC. When we asked people whose first time it was at WEC, I want to say about 60% of the hands went up.
Patrick Brochu:Oh, easily. Easily.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:I mean, that was minimum. And it's because face-to-face, or camera-to-camera, you can get to know someone you could read their facial expressions, you can play into it, you could see that they didn't like this joke and adjust accordingly. Or fac-to-face, what we talked about. e went to MPI because we wanted o see what an event would lo k like in a post-COVID world. Y u can't do that virtually righ. You can't experience the n w table settings or how they' e serving food or what's h s breakout rooms. There's s mething about being on ite and learning. You kno, we're experiential learner. We're learners that want to t uch and feel. And so it' really important that we do ake the time out of our schedu e to do t
Patrick Brochu:I think there's a stat out there that's almost 100% of people say that face-to-face meetings are essential for long term business relationships. And that's simply because people want to do business with people that they like, know and trust. So in order to, like, know and trust somebody, you have to really know them. I will say, going into some of this COVID lockdown, I was worried about that online. But I've made some very, very good friends from just some random networking events that I popped into some random MPI chapters throughout the country that I popped into. And now I'm texting basis daily with some of these people that I've met at these events. So and this were just random people that I was able to come into contact to, it's all about building a relationship. I think at the end of the day, the real thing is it's not just networking, it's building relationships. That's what the name of the game is here, building those relationships. And those relationships can turn into if you're on a supplier side, they turn into business down the road. If you're on a buyer, or in this case, a planner side, those turn into people that you trust to help you facilitate your event. And so you're feeling more comfortable and more confident than just hiring somebody off the street that you don't really know, if you just put out five bids, and you just pick the medium or the cheapest one, and you don't know who these people are.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:Knowing who you're doing business with is the name of the game here.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And talking about building relationships, building relationships do not happen over the course of a three day event, or over the course of a week, right, because I am using us as an example but I have many people that I can use an example. Patrick and I met in what was that 2015?
Patrick Brochu:2014
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:14. Our first event wasn't until 2016. It was two years before I did an event with Patrick. But from that two years, it was a lot of networking, a lot of meeting other people, connecting others to others in industry. So, probably brought each other business indirectly before we started working together. But also, by the time I started working with Patrick for my first event, Patrick knew my business, Patrick knew my quirks, my wants, my needs, and we were able to say okay, based on this, this is how we're going to execute a flawless event. And we did. Same thing with hoteliers, or just other suppliers in general. There's so many in the industry that I met at a networking event. And maybe we didn't do business together until a year or so later. But we kept that relationship. And it's more than just, clearly, over the course of the year, you're not just talking about what you do and who you work for and how long you've been at the company. You're starting to talk about, oh my gosh, I was at this event, I didn't like this or this is crazy when I saw this, just getting to know a person personally, because then when it came time to see business, and I knew that we both mutually had each other's best interest at heart.
Patrick Brochu:I think, just like you, there are multiple situations in my portfolio that I could point out to and some specifically here in the COVID times that I had some people that I've been bidding on things a few times over the years here and there, not really felt so great about those bids that I put out with them that... I knew them, but they just for whatever reason gave me the opportunity, which is great, but we weren't able to work together because of one thing or another. I actually was thinking about it. There was somebody specifically from a Connect event back in 2013 or 14 that I was in communication with. That person never gave me an opportunity but I stayed in such close contact with them they just happen to see something random that I put on my Facebook page, gave me an opportunity to bid on it and I won the business. And that's somebody that I met seven, maybe six, seven years ago.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:And then out of the blue, it just--but I kept in contact with them for the past seven years.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:Just Hey, whatever, whatever. And also one other thing that especially on the supplier side we're very guilty of and I'm calling us all out. But we're very guilty of going through those conferences looking at those name badges. Oh, is yours a blue name badge or red name badge? Are you a buyer or a supplier? Oh, you're a supplier, you're not going to do anything for me. Go away supplier, go away. But I can't tell you enough, again, in this time, when it was more crucial than ever, how many suppliers helped me out during COVID. And a few examples. One specific supplier that I met, I was with them a few times over the years and I happened to be with them the day that they received a phone call that they got a job as a corporate meeting planner and they switched sides but I was close with them prior to that. That was just a complete coincidence that they switch sides right before COVID this happened and they came to me and I was the person that they liked, knew and trusted. Another one actually an event that just happened last week. That was a recommendation from supplier, a supplier said, Hey, you guys are going to be doing this virtual event, you have to call Patrick. Those suppliers can be just as helpful and influential to you. And more important to you than even some of the planners because they can introduce you to multiple people multiple things.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Same thing on a planner side, we're not in competition with each other, we're all working together. Bringing up Pawntra as a sub planner, right? And so she's able to work with another planner and supply things and we're working together. We have to look at this industry as one cohesive big family. Because we always say how small the industry is, no matter where you are, or where you go, you're going to run into that person again. It's more than, like you said, the color of the name badge and the title because connections and networking, it doesn't follow the lines. It's open to everyone.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah, I like to say to network with intention go out if you're going to network have a game plan going in. We didn't really talk about it today as much. But Staceyann and I, when we do this networking session that we've done a few times, we always talk about network with a buddy. That's always a great thing to do. You go out with a buddy. A, it's less awkward for the two of you. If you're one person and you're breaking into a group of five people, everybody's in that situation, either on the side of the five people or the one person and you're like, Oh, this is kind of awkward. Who is this person? Or, Hey, guys, I'm just trying to be in the conversation. And then they're, they're having their inside jokes or whatever, it's easier to do that, believe it or not, with two people go in with a friend if you know somebody at a conference, buddy up with that person and say, hey, let's take this on together. And hey, I don't know anybody at this conference, or maybe they know everybody, and they can introduce you or maybe they don't know anybody either. And it's easier when two people go into a situation, not in a cliquish kind of way, but tag team. I've also transitioned this into the virtual world, gone into some random networking events for different associations in our industry, and said to a friend, Hey, why don't you join me? I'm gonna be on this Zoom 5pm happy hour. They're like, Hey, who do you know? And I was like, I don't know anybody. Why don't you come with me? And then we got on, we were talking in the chat, people saw us and started engaging with the two of us. And we're like, oh, you guys know each other? It became like a tag team scenario.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:It kind of grew from there. Yeah, and I mean, especially in this COVID world too where we're all wearing masks. In an in-person event, it's even more scary for someone who doesn't network, because now you're not even seeing faces. You're only seeing eyes. So you might be walking past someone you don't know. And it's even harder to kind of network. So going in tag teaming and having that person there, it does offer that extra level of stability. A big thing about networking is that you're not networking with the people you already know. How's that expanding your network? That's a lunch date.
Patrick Brochu:And another thing after the networking event, 70% of people don't follow up with the people that they meet. They have what I like to call the rubber band syndrome where they get all your cards, you put them in a rubber band and and then you put them in a drawer, I'm sure that a lot of you guys listening can open up that drawer in front of you and have tons of business cards of people that you've never reached back out to. When I go to a conference, a little insider tip here, I take my cards and I write notes on every single one of them. Every night when I go back to my room, even if I'm in person, you guys will see me with my little Sharpie fine point, I'm writing my notes on it.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:He does have a Sharpie in every size at a conference.
Patrick Brochu:And then I get back to my room and I'm like, okay, write out more notes or whatever I want to do. And then I separate them into different categories. Again, I tell you to follow up with everybody but I obviously, being a supplier, want all of my buyers first. So okay, here's my buyers. And I'll put a rating system on one to five, who I feel like is the most important because when I'm going back to do my follow-ups, those are the people that I put the most importance on a very customized follow-up. 90% of my follow-ups are very customized, but I go through and I'm saying Okay, these people, I want to customize your all my buyers. Then I take suppliers and I separate them out into different categories. And even those -- because I have some suppliers that I'm like, okay, that supplier can still bring me business or you know, I have an opportunity here, or maybe I can help them and there's somebody that I can help down the road. So I have those suppliers. And then I have other suppliers that I know will never do anything for me. But I still follow up with every single one of them. Say, Hey, this is what I do we met, if there's ever anything I can help you with, please feel free to reach out to me. I'm an expert in this, this and this and I'm in this region, if you happen to be coming in the area, reach out to me if you're visiting. And you'd be surprised how many of those people actually reach out to me when they come into that area. And I introduced them to somebody and then all of a sudden, you know, maybe a planner friend or buyer friend got that connection through me and then they're Oh, thank you so much for introducing me to Pete shout out Pete from Atlantic City.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Not yet a sponsor.
Patrick Brochu:But different scenarios like that, I think is very important. So make sure that you follow up with everybody, no matter if you feel like they're going to do anything for you or not. You never never know. Yeah. And Stacey, I'm sorry to ramble here but there's one other point that I like to bring up. I talk about this all the time. It's called connecting dots. And you've heard me talk about this before, Stacy. Yeah, there is a great TED Talk out there, I encourage all of our listeners to go out and find it. It's called active networking. And it's by a guy by the name of Mark E Sackett. Mark E SACKETT. Mark E Sackett. He is not a professional speaker, by any means, but his TED Talk on collecting dots is one of the greatest things I've ever heard when it comes to networking. And what he means by collecting dots is finding that meaningful connection for people. So again, if I'm collecting the dots, and you guys can't see me because this is an audio podcast, but I'm doing all this kind of crazy, hand movement here. But you have a dot over on your right that dot is Stacry and Stacry is a buyer and I know specifically the things that she's out looking for. And then I meet a venue over here on my left. That venue is in a geographic region that I know Stacey wants to plan an event and in my head, I'm connecting dots. So I might say, hey, Stacey, I saw this person from this property, they might be of interest to you. Or another example, Stacey, I know somebody that's doing virtual game shows. I know you have a virtual event coming up. Let me introduce you here. So connecting those dots are the most important thing because then Stacey's gonna come back and say, Oh, you know what? Patrick was very helpful. He went above and beyond what he had to do for me. I really appreciate what he was able to do.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:As a matter of fact, I think I have a real life situation where you did exactly that. I think you introduced me to Zach at Paradise Point in San Diego. I think it wasn't even that you knew Zach. I think it was that you were just like here's the San Diego booth. Yes at IMEX and that's how we kind of met.
Patrick Brochu:That one and then the Louisville one.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And Louisville. Oh my gosh, Louisville.
Patrick Brochu:Louisville. I introduced you to Louisville and then you did an event in Louisville, Louisville, not yet a sponsor, but Louisville-
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:-did sponsor session.
Patrick Brochu:They kind of owe me for both of us. But Louisville has actually sponsored two of our sessions.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yes.
Patrick Brochu:At IMEX and now at WEC. So shout out to you guys in Louisville.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And one of them they gave us dranks.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah, they did build your own Mint Julep in the room, which was pretty cool. Thank you. Thank you, Louisville for those mint juleps.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:So okay, let's talk about it. He kind of gave some information about networking and why it's important how to do it. But now when it comes time to network, how exactly do we use everything to our advantage? In person what's so cool about this, what I love about this, is when we do it in a group of that size, we hear throughout the conference, Oh my gosh, because of you I met this person, and you see those connections stay throughout the link conference. So some general questions that have nothing to do with just your job. These are general and it could be specific to you. I'm great at going in with just random questions and asking people and that's how we connect. But you know, who are you? What would you do? Or what would you rather be doing? I think you said, Patrick, that so many people aren't actually living their passion, right? So yeah, I am an event planner. I love event planning. But if I had to choose another job or another profession, it would be cooking and wine. That's where my passion is. Where are you from where are you based, we know that people love their hometown cities. I'm from the Bronx, and we'll talk about it to the day I die. Living in Reno, I say, I live in Reno, but I'm from the Bronx. What are you most passionate about? Really getting those questions that make people talk on a deeper level than just the company that they're representing at the conference, you will find that that connection will be deeper, it will mean more. And it will be more memorable than the typical questions.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah, and following up on that, when you mentioned people not living their passion, that's something that's very important, because when you're really meeting people for the first time, there's a stat out there about 70% of people not living their passion. So find out what that passion is. I've had scenarios again, going back to connecting dots, where I've met people that were Hey, Patrick, I'm a planner. But you know, I really want to go into hotels. That kind of, you know, messes it up for me, but hey, you know, that's your passion. So here, let me let me introduce you. And I've had people changing up what they're doing and been able to introduce people and get them lined up with somebody that they were able to connect with and down the road change careers. And on the flip side, you know, people that were in hotels and said, I really always wanted to be a meeting planner. That's what I've always wanted to do. Okay, here you go, boom, and been able to introduce and connect people which has been great. Find what somebody's passion is and you might know somebody that you can connect them with down the road that will change their trajectory, and they'll never forget that.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:I think that's what we have in terms of networking, and we hope that you're able to use some of that information not only in, like we keep saying, the physical world, but in the hybrid and virtual world, that you'll go out there and you'll meet people. It is very important that we continue to network throughout our professional and our personal lives. I always say we're students in this world and networking in general, you're always going to learn something new from somebody else might not be something you like, but you're gonna learn something new. So continue to get out there, continue to network, step outside your comfort zone in your bubble and get to know someone new. Patrick, you know what time it is.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah, it's time for that paprika. The seasoning that means nothing.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:And also means everything because smoked paprika is everything. But smoked. Specifically. Would you like me to start off with something that happened yesterday? I decided after being woken up by Milo, my dog, with his stinky face and breath in my face. I decided to take him to PetSmart to get a bath. So I took him there. And I know he hates water. He hates baths. He hates nail clippings. He hates it all. And so I make an appointment online. I go to PetSmart. And I get there and they're like, oh, what's your name? I'm like, his name is Milo he has a 130. And they're like, okay, and they come back out. They're like, Can you say your name again? I'm like Milo. They're like, We don't have you in the system. I'm like, But here's my confirmation number... with the other PetSmart location. Oh my god, I'm so sorry. And they're just like, Oh, don't worry, we have an opening. So they were able to take him in. And she was like, oh, his nails aren't too long. I see that they're sharp. So I'm not gonna probably be able to like, drill them down. And I'm like, oh, he is going to attack you. He hates that drill. And on top of the fact that he hates the bath. He hates everything. And she's like, oh, let's see what I can do. I go back to pick him up in an hour and a half-ish. And she's like, Oh, he was such a good dog. I'm like What? She's like, Oh, yeah, no, he had no problem with me trimming his nails and he loved the bath actually, like he was playing and he was fine. I was like, Can you just tell me what supplement you gave my dog because I would like to do that too. And she's like, He's fine. He had no problem. And he had this cute little like handkerchief cape thing around his neck. He looked so cute and he was the most calm after getting a bath I've ever seen him. So shout out to Tristen on South Virginia at PetSmart next to Total Wine, which is why I go there, because they're next to Total Wine. So I went and got some what? Total wine. And it was amazing. And so I was so excited I, in the parking lot, made my appointment for the next time because I've never seen him come out so calm, so clean. She even brushed his teeth. Bruh. His teeth are white.
Patrick Brochu:Whoa. Yeah, I think my dog means that expensive breath that can knock you out.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Also PetSmart is very affordable on the wash. Just want to put that out there.
Patrick Brochu:That's good. Did they have to put Milo out for a little bit to do the teeth? Did they - cuz I know for some dogs- No.- they don't like to clean? They actually like knock them out.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:No, I don't think he was knocked out. But now I have to ask. Because I did ask us like what did he give him? She's like nothing. Like he didn't get a CBD treat? None of that? Nothing. She's like, No. So he just sat there and just let him brush his teeth and express anal glands and everything.
Patrick Brochu:Because my dog her dental sticks are not quite cutting it anymore.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:My dog is allergic to those central sticks and gets the diarrheas.
Patrick Brochu:Oh, no.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:Oh, no.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:So what's your paprika? Besides, I don't know. Decorating your house?
Patrick Brochu:Besides d ecorating? Well, I've been a little down lately. Right? I've been-
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:What I tell you about doing this to me?
Patrick Brochu:Well, sorry. No, I've just been thinking a lot. And and I try not to harp on it, but about our industry in particular and how hard we've been hit with the economic fallout from COVID. And I'm very fortunate. But I know that several people in our industry haven't been.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:Friends of mine who have had businesses for 10-15 years, very successful now running out of money. They had money stockpiled away or for a rainy day but nobody thought this rainy day would be-
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Months.
Patrick Brochu:-months later. 6,7,8, 9 months later, whatever we are, but I'm
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah. seeing some of my good friends losing their warehouses losing their businesses. You know me I've been so positive I'm an ever optimist, but just recently I feel like some of that finally hit me seeing them. I don't know. I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to give you guys a downer. But you know, it's... No, I think that it hits even harder because it's around the holiday season.
Patrick Brochu:Yeah.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:You know, you just think about family time and unfortunately all the money that goes into holidays and you think about all that, and you think about the fact that people are depressed right now. They are home, they're trying to work through, but this is the time when it's really important to reach out to your connections. And if we go back to the, to the actual podcast step out of paprika for a second, networking doesn't mean only networking with the people that can help you. And we said that before. And it doesn't mean that if a person now loses their livelihood, that they mean nothing to you. You know, now's especially important to reach out to those people and make sure they're okay. And touch base with them. Let them know that they're in someone's thoughts.
Patrick Brochu:That's really it and I think we'll leave it there but you know, I think with the holidays coming up, I think Stacey hit the nail on the head. Reach out to your contacts. Reach out to them. Hey, what's going on? How you feeling?
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Yeah.
Patrick Brochu:I want to be like Ellen. Be kind everyone. Be kind. Isn't that how she ends her show? Be kind.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:I don't know I don't watch Ellen.
Patrick Brochu:Love me some Ellen. Alright guys, peace out Cub Scouts!
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:I'm going to hurt you. Take it back. Peace out Cub Scouts!
Patrick Brochu:All right, everybody.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Okay? Bye.
Patrick Brochu:Til next time, bye.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Episode produced by Patrick Brochu and Staceyann Van Horne-Doria. Sound editing by Rocci Doria and song by Dr. Delight.
Patrick Brochu:All right, Stacey. Yeah. So, since you're recording so early in the morning, let's practice some voice exercises to get you going. The lips the teeth, the tip of the tongue. The lips. The teeth. The tip of the tongue.
Staceyann Van Horne-Doria:Stop it. Oh my god. I'm trying. I'm awake. Good morning, Patrick.