If your social card isn't pocked with brunches, happy hours, tea sessions, or karaoke, you're doing something wrong. Nearly every day or every night there's a get-together that ranges from networking – or as some of the organizers like to call it, "relationship building" – to butchering your favorite song at a karaoke bar (in between networking). Whether you're an entrepreneur with a start-up, an entrepreneur with a big idea, a small business owner, a tech-nerd, interested in the environment – it goes on and on and on in Metro Detroit – you're a welcome addition to any of these sessions.
"There are always a lot of rules and rituals when networking. Things you have to do," says Terry Bean founder of
Motor City Connect. "We're not about that."
Networking used to mean a Holiday Inn banquet room, cold coffee, stale crackers, uncomfortable seats crowed around circular tables, and a microphone that cracked in and out. That still exists, of course (somewhere), but there's a new breed of get-togethers out there. There's a new way of networking that doesn't require a tie, a business card, or, hell, even a hardcore reason.
Motor City Connect hosts everything from lunch hours to happy hours to bocce ball outings. The main focus of the group, says Bean, is to link the ideas of the website LinkedIn with the Chamber of Commerce. "We want to build relationships quickly and businesses based on relationships. Groups like ours want speed. We can get a happy hour together in 30 minutes." Then, asked what happens at the happy hour, Bean laughs and says, "Well, we just shoot the shit."
"This is a new style of meeting. The whole dynamic of networking has changed," says Brandon Chesnutt, co-organizer of
Detroit Tweetups. "The atmosphere and location bring people out. It can be loud. You can stand. You can have a few beers. You don't have to pass out a business card. It's after work and you're tying to have a good time and relax."
A lot of these new style meetups are growing through the social media universe (i.e. Facebook and Twitter), dotting the virtual landscape and gaining in popularity.
It's obvious Detroit Tweetups is completely driven by Facebook and Twitter. They meet on a monthly basis. Chesnutt says there were 40 people at the first Tweetup he attended, while their last one had somewhere closer to 100. "No one passed out business cards," he says. "We just exchanged our Twitter names."
The idea behind Detroit Tweetups, and a spin-off group called
Tweetea, is quite simple. The Twitter community in Metro Detroit wanted to talk to each other using more than 140 characters (Gasp! Maybe the world does need more than 140 characters to get a point across.) and these groups were born. Chesnutt says attendees range from entry level staffers to CEOs of companies and from entrepreneurs looking to make connections to people just wanting to hang out. "We're the melting pot of the web," he says.
Tweetea meets every Tuesday after work at
Gold Fish Tea in Royal Oak. It's smaller – anywhere from 12-20 people – and more focused than the traditional Detroit Tweetups. Whereas the aim to Tweetups is introductions and getting to know each other, Tweetea tries to rope members into discussing topics in a variety of fields.
David Murray, a patron of the weekly Tweetea and organizer of Social Media Club Detroit, says Tweetea is a nice 101 course for people wanting to get involved in social media, learn about it, and see what's up. "These groups are really about building a community in the area that isn't just about social media or graphic designers or angel investors," he says. "Southeast Michigan has a bad rap but the community here is all positive energy. There are a lot of people creating here. It sounds trite to say that 'things' are happening, but that’s exactly what it is. 'Things' are happening and groups like these shed light on that."
"There are 1,000 networking groups out there. Whether it's startup or tech stuff, they put an emphasis on networking, on gaining something," Matthew Bower, co-founder of Detroit Startup Drinks, a bi-monthly group that meets to bring the Metro Detroit start-up community together. "Our meetings are collaborative. We try to make connections with people, not business cards."
"People don't want to join another board, meet in another boardroom," says April Boyle, organizer of
Detroit Green Drinks, a monthly get-together that discusses a green lifestyle. "It's so formal. It's a lot more fun to just hang out, meet people, and grab a couple beers."
Jim Deakins, co-founder of a group that has just formed in Ann Arbor called Wetware – a term taken from the sci-fi world that means brain – is putting together a group that meets on a monthly basis at Café Felix in Ann Arbor on Wednesday. If you don't know,
Café Felix has half-off bottles of wine that day. "Why do you think we are having the meeting here," he says.
Wetware will be a focused, science and technology discussion group where no laptops or smart phones are allowed. Just a pen and a napkin will be permitted to get your point across or to jot down some notes. "Tech groups tend to meet in high-energy environments in this town, like coffee shops. We came here for the ambiance, the atmosphere," says Brad Boegler, another one of the organizers. "It's not (that) quiet here, but it's laid back, informal." Deakins adds: "And don't forget half-off bottles of wine."
For these organizers, and many of their patrons, there are many underlining themes, none of which are more important than the informality of each group. Most people don't fill their social cards with banquet events, boardroom meetings, and conference calls. There's more practicality than pleasure in those. However, what if you could get them all at the same time? Knock out some networking, do a little handshaking, and engage in some relationship building, all with a beer or glass of wine in your hand? Hell, forego the handshake for a high-five or fist-bump. These budding groups in Metro Detroit offer just that. They bring the importance of the Holiday Inn networking session to your local watering hole. Ties are optional.
"You don't even have to brush your hair," says Bower about the Detroit Startup Drinks. "Take the tie off, find out what people are working on. … In the bar, it's easy to talk. No coffee and crackers, no handouts, just people."
Terry Parris Jr. is on just about everyone's Tweet-up list. He is the utility in-fielder for IMG, contributing regular features to Metromode, Model D and Concentrate.Photos:
Social Tweetup at Goldfish Tea - Royal Oak
Brainstorming session at Cafe Felix
All photographs by Marvin Shaouni
Marvin Shaouni is the managing photographer for Metromode & Model D.