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Tag: networking

Business cards in a pocket
Sep152025

Industry Parties and the 2-Pocket Business Card Season

Festival season is well underway and all those industry parties! Are you ready? And how do you remember all those people you meet? Including what you talked about?

Use business cards, of course! Yes, they are still relevant.

I like to wear a blazer as part of my outfit at these parties, or at least something with two pockets. In my right pocket, I have business cards to hand-out, and in my left pocket, I place business cards that I receive during the event. Keeping them in separate pockets means I can find a business card of mine effortlessly and they don’t get mixed up with ones I’ve received.

I also keep a pen in my right pocket with my giveaway business cards. I use it to jot down a word or two or a question on the back of any received card so I know what we talked about or I can follow-up with an answer after the party.

If someone doesn’t have a physical business card – which is more and more frequent now – we can connect via digital business card or Linked-In invitation on the spot. In this case, I also have the opportunity to use one of my own giveaway cards and jot down the person’s name and a word or two on the back and transfer it to my received pocket for my own reference.

If it looks like I always use physical business cards, well, I do prefer them and their tactile nature. As an introvert, fingering my received cards gives me comfort that I’ve reached out of my comfort zone to meet people at an event. Plus, there are many options now for eco-friendly choices in card stock: post-consumer recycled material, paper made with natural fibers like hemp or bamboo, and even recycled cotton or biodegradable options.

But if I forget to bring business cards with me (which certainly has happened) or I don’t have a 2-pocket outfit, I definitely use my digital business card. I mean, we always have our mobile phone with us now, don’t we? The digital card is great with its QR code for fast connecting, and the photo avatar is fantastic for when you remember a face more so than a name.

So, whether you use a digital business card or physical one or both, consider the 2-pocket system for when you connect with people. Maybe I’ll see you at an event and we can trade cards!

Cheers & a good industry party to you,
Deb

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“Film Production Management 101” (now in its third edition) is updated for today’s respectful workplace and sustainable practices – available worldwide, including Amazon-USA, Indigo-Canada and many other bookstores or directly from the publisher (MWP).

 

Nov262015

Inspiration at the Movies: Ocean’s Eleven

tgp“…and uh, I owe you from the thing with the guy in the place and I’ll never forget it.”
– Reuben (Ocean’s Eleven, 2001)

What a brilliant line!

Writing-wise, in but a few words, we immediately get Reuben’s style of character. We know he has a history with Danny and Rusty, and he believes in giving and remembering favours… even if he hasn’t seen them in a while. And since we, the audience, don’t really care what that history is, we don’t have to hear the detail!

It’s also a great line to remember in our own lives. We as people are interconnected through favours given and collected… even if we don’t keep in touch as much as we’d like. Makes you think about your own network. Who are you connected to because of “the thing with the guy in the place?”

Cheers & a good shoot to you,
Deb

Aug202015

Business Cards at Festival Parties… Are They Passé?

bcrdcutWith festival season starting soon, and all the festival parties and networking ahead it’s time to think about designing and printing your business cards.

“Aren’t they old-school?” you ask. “They’ll just throw them out!”

Indeed, you may be right. The business card has a hard time competing with the smart phone, but then again it may not need to.

Previously, I’ve mentioned the strategy of wearing a blazer or similar piece of clothing that has pockets on both sides of your body. Business cards to hand out in the pocket on one side, and business cards collecting in the pocket on the other (so you don’t mistakenly hand out someone else’s card). It’s still a good strategy.

Why?

1. Not everyone has their cell phone handy (to update) at a party.

2. Not everyone wants to pull out their cell phone to add everyone they meet to their cell phone contact list immediately.

3. A business card can be full colour and eye-catching and provide more message about who you are compared with a text note or name and number added to a cell phone.

4. People respond well to pictures. Promoting a film or book? The card can be the film poster or the book cover on one side and information on the flip side.

5. White space on the card or its back is useful for adding extra notes about your networking conversation (so the recipient will have a memory trigger about you after the event is done). Of course, you’ll need a pen with you too to take advantage of such notetaking.

So… call is a business card yesterday or a “promotional you” card today, it’s still a useful networking tool.

Now, it’s over to you! Design an eye-catching “promotional you” card. You know the recipient won’t keep it forever, so it can be business card sized, small bookmark sized, or some other relevant shape that you dream up (but keep it small, pocket-sized).

Then off to the printers before the festival parties begin!

Cheers & happy networking to you,
Deb

Nov192010

Ciné-Surfer: Career Intelligence & Networking

The season of parties approaches… be it a wrap parties, office parties or Christmas parties. Are you ready for all that networking?

I’ve been ciné-surfing lately, and found some cool information on the Career-Intelligence.com site. It’s called the “smart women’s online career resource” but it’s certainly readable by any gender! Some of the latest items I’ve found of interest to read include:

  • How to Avoid a Typical Conversation
    (and you know what they mean, don’t you!)
  • How Do You Accept an Award
    (beyond the obvious awards shows, this can include kudos given to you publicly at the wrap of any production)

What elements catch your ciné-surfing eye?

Cheers & a great festive season to you!
Deb