When was the last time you walked up to a total stranger, engaged in a conversation with the view of walking away with something you wanted from him?
Tonight in a training environment, I did just that. It wasn't easy. I am attending a two day course aimed at imparting networking skills. To put our new learnt skills to practice, we 'hosted' a business seminar for some 'customers'. Of course, these 'customers' were really just managers in disguise. My objective was to go up to at least three of them, engage in small talk and move progressively to some serious business conversation ultimately walking away with their business card and agreement to tee up a meeting later on during the week.
Oh man... it's the most difficult thing to do... this walking up to a complete stranger business. Sometimes I encountered periods of silence where my mind went absolutely blank for want of new questions to ask. One time a customer was talking about exporting his goods while I talked about importing. Another time the 'customer' had to throw me clues about what else to talk about.
Thinking back, I've been doing this my whole life. Sure, not in a polished way and not always for the same objective. Nevertheless, we've all done this. Starting from first day at kindergarten - striking up conversations with complete strangers for friendship, at school, at uni, at work. Making new friends, asking for information, etc. But boy, it doesn't get any easier.
I succeeded in reaching my objective, and learnt a couple of things during the exercise.
1. The person talking to me is probably as nervous as I am meeting them for the first time. So, relax...
2. Wearing clothes that have two pockets is easier - you can use one pocket for storing cards received, the other for your own business cards.
3. Engaging in a networking conversation is never just a 'go with the flow' exercise. It involves some planning, strategy and practice.
I never anticipated tonight to be a fun night, but it was!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The First, The Last and The Never
Last Saturday, in an attempt to embrace the joie de vivre, I decided we should try something new and go for qi gong/meditation class. So why qi gong? There must be gazillions of activities out there which exudes more vivre than qi gong right? Well, I blame it on the heat of the day when I first saw the leaflet, and the word 'free' on it. (also because I have heard of the superhealing powers of qigong. Me learn qigong, me heal people, me become famous...).
But what transpired took all my joie away. First, we ended up at the wrong place. The poor little lady who answered the door must have been very puzzled to see us standing outside her door in trackie pants asking about qi gong. She might have been about to say, 'No no, whatever you're selling I don't want any', when we wised up. We eventually got to the right address, and found we were the only participants in the class. The teacher was dressed in a monk's garb, and the interior of the place looked like a temple short of incense smoke wafting about.
Meditation was where we spent the next half an hour in the lotus position concentrating on breathing. For Gaz it was concentrating on not falling off his mat. He wobbled so much I thought he was jerking every now and then trying to keep awake. It was hilarious, I could not understand how he could be wobbling so much. He told me later that he can't really sit cross legged. So, while Gaz was concentrating on making the clock go faster, I was concentrating on not laughing at him.
Next came the qi gong practice. It entails 7 different movements, all of which we forgot as soon as we learnt it. The only thing I learnt here was that there are seven chakras in our body - root, eyebrow, crown, throat, chest, navel and second last (can't remember name) in no particular order.
After the class, the teacher sat down with us and engaged in some small talk. We ended up giving our contact details to him - must have been the water he gave us. But we chatted for another half hour during which time I got a little suspicious of the place, their intentions, the cult factor etc and wished to go home.
So, my little experiment was a big flop. I think from now on I shall derive my joie de livre from simpler, known pleasures. Such as sleeping in and eating ice cream on a hot day. And probably will not attend another one of those classes ever again!
But what transpired took all my joie away. First, we ended up at the wrong place. The poor little lady who answered the door must have been very puzzled to see us standing outside her door in trackie pants asking about qi gong. She might have been about to say, 'No no, whatever you're selling I don't want any', when we wised up. We eventually got to the right address, and found we were the only participants in the class. The teacher was dressed in a monk's garb, and the interior of the place looked like a temple short of incense smoke wafting about.
Meditation was where we spent the next half an hour in the lotus position concentrating on breathing. For Gaz it was concentrating on not falling off his mat. He wobbled so much I thought he was jerking every now and then trying to keep awake. It was hilarious, I could not understand how he could be wobbling so much. He told me later that he can't really sit cross legged. So, while Gaz was concentrating on making the clock go faster, I was concentrating on not laughing at him.
Next came the qi gong practice. It entails 7 different movements, all of which we forgot as soon as we learnt it. The only thing I learnt here was that there are seven chakras in our body - root, eyebrow, crown, throat, chest, navel and second last (can't remember name) in no particular order.
After the class, the teacher sat down with us and engaged in some small talk. We ended up giving our contact details to him - must have been the water he gave us. But we chatted for another half hour during which time I got a little suspicious of the place, their intentions, the cult factor etc and wished to go home.
So, my little experiment was a big flop. I think from now on I shall derive my joie de livre from simpler, known pleasures. Such as sleeping in and eating ice cream on a hot day. And probably will not attend another one of those classes ever again!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Mary and Max
Mary and Max is one of the best movies I have watched in a long time. It is an Australian claymation directed and written by Adam Elliot and voiced by some famous Australians including Toni Collette and Eric Bana.
The story is about a random, most unlikely friendship between an ugly ducking of a little Australian girl and an overweight 44 year old man in America that blossomed and grew across the seas and spanned nearly two decades. What could they have in common? Very little except that both of them were lonely and life had dealt them a deck of unfavourable cards. With that, their unlikely friendship stumbled along their lives, survived through the death of parents, admittance to mental institution, diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, marriage, divorce, graduation from University, etc.
A most poignant moment was when Max wrote to Mary in one of his letters after the latter had particularly hurt him, ‘You are my best friend. You are my only friend. Friends are imperfect, you are imperfect. Therefore I choose to forgive you.’
In the end of the movie, Mary traveled to America to meet Max but the path the friends were meant to travel on was destined to never meet. He passed away peacefully in the morning she arrived.
It is the movie that made me sob my heart out for ½ hour AFTER it had ended. Thinking about it now makes me all teary. I think this movie touches on the fundamentals of life – friends are integral to everyone’s lives, and friends make mistakes no matter how close they are, they may hurt you but when they do, good friends choose to forgive.
My friends, forgive me when I have hurt you as I am usually clumsy with my words and actions. I do not mean to. I hope you choose to forgive and remain friends for life.
The story is about a random, most unlikely friendship between an ugly ducking of a little Australian girl and an overweight 44 year old man in America that blossomed and grew across the seas and spanned nearly two decades. What could they have in common? Very little except that both of them were lonely and life had dealt them a deck of unfavourable cards. With that, their unlikely friendship stumbled along their lives, survived through the death of parents, admittance to mental institution, diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, marriage, divorce, graduation from University, etc.
A most poignant moment was when Max wrote to Mary in one of his letters after the latter had particularly hurt him, ‘You are my best friend. You are my only friend. Friends are imperfect, you are imperfect. Therefore I choose to forgive you.’
In the end of the movie, Mary traveled to America to meet Max but the path the friends were meant to travel on was destined to never meet. He passed away peacefully in the morning she arrived.
It is the movie that made me sob my heart out for ½ hour AFTER it had ended. Thinking about it now makes me all teary. I think this movie touches on the fundamentals of life – friends are integral to everyone’s lives, and friends make mistakes no matter how close they are, they may hurt you but when they do, good friends choose to forgive.
My friends, forgive me when I have hurt you as I am usually clumsy with my words and actions. I do not mean to. I hope you choose to forgive and remain friends for life.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Kobe Jones
Kobe Jones is a Californian Japanese style place in Docklands. Gaz and I heard about their $25 all you can eat sushi and was compelled to try it out because of the good value for money proposition. Knowing that this is a branded restaurant, I made the booking well in advance - at least two weeks before. We scheduled our appointments around the booking so we can drive all the way to Docklands, which takes us about 40 mins and sample the food.
When we arrived, the manager was outside the restaurant explaining to two guests that the restaurant is still in set up mode and for them to wait a little longer. Overhearing that, we went next door where there was a Sri Lankan roadshow going on. There were booths set up where exhibitors showcased their wares - from sarees to travel services. After about ten minutes we went back to the restaurant to be greeted by the same scene where the manager was explaining to another guest why the restaurant is not ready yet.
I was determined to wait in the restaurant so I stood around while she finished her spill and then tell her that we had a reservation for lunch starting 15 mins ago. She was surprised and went in to check. Later, she came out to tell us that the place was booked out for the Sri Lankan fest lunch, sorry we can't have lunch there etc etc. All I was interested in was why didn't anyone call us to inform of the change?? How difficult is it to track down the bookings of the day? Well, it seems it is a complicated process, that even the manager herself did not know if the restaurant was 'Kobe or not Kobe' on the day (what this means, we don't know) etc.
The manager then asked us if we would like to pay a cheaper price of $45 per head and taste the Sri Lankan buffet that afternoon instead. I was disappointed that I had to correct her - that the Japanese all you can eat is $25 therefore paying $45 is NOT a better deal.
Kobe Jones must really be struggling if they had to depart from their cusine and cater Sri Lankan food. Perhaps they would gain more patronage if they did not offend their guests while trying to get more business.
When we arrived, the manager was outside the restaurant explaining to two guests that the restaurant is still in set up mode and for them to wait a little longer. Overhearing that, we went next door where there was a Sri Lankan roadshow going on. There were booths set up where exhibitors showcased their wares - from sarees to travel services. After about ten minutes we went back to the restaurant to be greeted by the same scene where the manager was explaining to another guest why the restaurant is not ready yet.
I was determined to wait in the restaurant so I stood around while she finished her spill and then tell her that we had a reservation for lunch starting 15 mins ago. She was surprised and went in to check. Later, she came out to tell us that the place was booked out for the Sri Lankan fest lunch, sorry we can't have lunch there etc etc. All I was interested in was why didn't anyone call us to inform of the change?? How difficult is it to track down the bookings of the day? Well, it seems it is a complicated process, that even the manager herself did not know if the restaurant was 'Kobe or not Kobe' on the day (what this means, we don't know) etc.
The manager then asked us if we would like to pay a cheaper price of $45 per head and taste the Sri Lankan buffet that afternoon instead. I was disappointed that I had to correct her - that the Japanese all you can eat is $25 therefore paying $45 is NOT a better deal.
Kobe Jones must really be struggling if they had to depart from their cusine and cater Sri Lankan food. Perhaps they would gain more patronage if they did not offend their guests while trying to get more business.
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