Wednesday Weapons - How will this handshake change your life?
Written on 8:28 PM by J
These past few days I have truly been on Executive status, traveling throughout the greater Washington D.C. area. In going to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 101 classes to FOSE 2009, the metro and I have become keenly aquainted. Nonetheless, I would not trade it for a typical day at the office, because I would not have had the opportunity to meet and greet as many people as I have. I've embraced my first Tweetup, meet the founder of Govloop.com (the Facebook for government employees), and shook hands with key players within DHS. With that in mind, I ask, what is in a handshake?
With social media being on the rise, it is a wonder anyone takes the time to personally meet anyone. Could you blame them? You Tweet someone a question on Twitter and you receive an answer; you message someone on Facebook and you have a business deal; you read someone's blog, email them, and now you're dating (I don't know well that works, but try it). While all those things are cool, quick, and easy contact, I am an avid meet and greeter. I make it a goal to shake hands with any person I contact within the social media realm.
So I arrived towards the end of the Web 2.0 panel, consisting of masters such as Dr. Mark Drapeau, Govloop founder Steve Ressler, among others. Although it was informative I was more interested in the meet and greet time. I had been tweeting with Dr. Mark Dreapeau and Steve Ressler throughout the morning, both recommended we Tweetup (meet and greet) after the panel discussion. Patiently, I waited as they discussed matters of integrating Web 2.0 into the government workplace. When they finished I had the opportunity to shake hands, exchange business cards, and essentially begin the process of building relationships!
Each person was interested and wanted to know more about our endeavor of building an online aid that will help young professionals/entrepreneurs communicate more effectively within the workplace. I see them as the key players and leaders of the Web 2.0 movement in the Washington, D.C. area. I will follow up with them tomorrow to further discuss how we can be assets to each other.
On the metro I met two generation Y’ers, who were at FOSE 2009 also. They are fellow young professionals and love social media. I approached, introduced, shook hands, exchanged business cards, and hopefully they are reading this blog as you are.
This may be impromptu but below are a few high level tips for a meet and greet:
1. Approach
2. Introduce
3. Shake hands
4. Discuss
5. Exchange Business Cards
6. Build Relationships
Never underestimate the power of a meet and greet!
How will this handshake change your life?
-J
