It was very good. Food was excellent, they also had a ready supply of alcohol.
Networking was easy. For example, someone bumped into me and after a while we exchanged business cards.
Yesterday I went to a Xing (formerly openBC) networking event in Munich.
Previous ones have been mixed but last night was good fun. Lots of people there and eventually I got chatting.
A couple of things I've learnt about networking:
- drink, obviously not too much but don't be sober
- hijack a table, preferable a standing table ("Stehtisch" as they're called here) and start talking to the people there.
At Xing a lot of people avoided eye contact. I guess Germans aren't very good networkers, even the ones who know the importance of networking. The tactics above helped.
Oh, and another thing, don't bother wearing a suit, unless you're only comfortable wearing one.
At the American German Business Club very few people were not wearing suits, though everyone was smartly dressed. I was one of them. I found this strangely helped.
After tonight's German lesson I'm going to a nearby pub where I hear there's a Xing Stammtisch (regular table). But only for one drink mind.
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