so yesterday, i had my first real "business mooching" experience at the SF MOMA. the motorola party was filled with a variety of people and not just programming nerds. there was a group that was hired to be the "party goers" of the group. they wore these ultra-trendy clothes, had motorola gear on, and tried to mingle with everyone and get them to play with the free rubik's cubes they were handing out and dance with people. there were also the high-ranked people there, who you could just tell who they were by their poise and the way they talked. and of course, there were programmers. the food was excellent. there were asparagus wrapped in spanish ham, dim sum, fried potstickers, pad thai, roasted pork, and all this other french food. they also had desserts, including creme brulee, brownies, little cheesecakes cut in the shape of crescents, and this really really awesome chocolate cake that was in the shape of a flower. the chef put on warm chocolate sauce, guava sauce, and creme if you wanted it as well. drinks were all free (wine, beer, liquor), coat check... it was really fancy i must say.

so that was the fun part.

the hard part was trying to talk to all these people you don't know and trying to "network." i did manage to get some contacts... and no, no girls. the promoter girls were pretty good looking (duh), but that was about it. the hardest thing when you are trynig to network is trying to talk to someone and force a conversation when you really have nothing in common. you find yourself in a lot of awkward silences... and really, it's just not easy... but i think with a lot of practice, i could get used to talking to just random strangers. i'm used to just being the quiet one and just hanging out by myself, which i like to do. but i was constantly looking around, looking at people's nametags and seeing if we had some sort of connection with his or her company. if not, we just pretended we didn't see each other. everyone else was doing the same, pretty much walking around and trying to see if you were worth talking to. such is the life i will have to lead in the future, and honestly, it wasn't that bad. just not easy. it is a problem i have always had since i was a kid... talking to people i don't know. to be honest, i started ordering things at restaurants for myself when i was later in high school. until then, i always asked my parents to ask the waiter for more water or soda. it was until my dad started yelling at me that i should learn how to speak up that i started asking stuff for myself. pretty pathetic how shy i was back then. i guess what really helped me to speak up at restaurants was when i started going out with friends or dates. but still to this day, i have problems speaking up. i'll rarely talk in class or meetings... like ultra rare. when i ask a waiter for more water, they never hear me because i never speak loud enough.
so now, i'm choosing a career where you are required to be outgoing and extroverted, so i guess this will definitely help my social skills. it just really feels uncomfortable for me, but i'm really hoping that will change.