I just attended my first HOW conference. I went thinking I would meet a few people (hopefully a few power players in the F+W stable of speakers and authors), but that the most valuable thing I would get is some lessons on thinking better, smarter, faster and a little clarity about my business.
As I reflect, i find myself thankful to have 1) reconnected with two old friends, 2) gotten TONS of clarity regarding my business, and last but not least, 3) met a few awesome new friends.
This brings me to the title of my post. At the networking lunch Steve Gordon (aka RDQLUS Creative) warned us about the business card graveyard…the place where, really MOST of the people you meet at these things can go if you keep it superficial. However, if you attempt to make genuine contact with the people you meet, you can make good friends. And yeah, that means the stack of cards you bring home might be a little shorter, but who cares about that unless you are planning to spam them anyway.
I took Steve’s advice. I met some people I’ll keep in touch with. My stack is small, and my business card graveyard only has three cards in it. The number of people I will keep up with is more than twice the number of people I’m discarding.
That says something about our community. Designers are awesome, loving, generous people. We make the world a better place, and not just while we’re at work.