theMediaman.com

Back when I was looking for a job (and eventually landed at Livewire), one resource I used to find the best and brightest companies to work for was the list of nominees on the CNMA web site. Ever since the first year, I’ve wanted to attend.  So it was a huge deal for me when the company Simone works for, Delvinia, turns out to be the company that runs the show!

 I kept bugging Simone to get me into this year’s festivities, and I’m glad she did. It was really as awesome as I had imagined. Formal attire, young crowd, freaky-artsie types mingling with the bankers. I should also mention the awesome, awesome, awesome food. The nibbles were better than the meals at most fancy restaurants.

Even the beers were poured properly… sometimes. About half the time the barkeep would just pour like he/she was at a local tavern. If you got them in the right mood, they’d spritz the glass, start pouring before putting the glass under the stream, then use a knife to cut off the head before cleaning the glass and serving. Unfortunately there were only three taps at each bar and they were serving Keith’s, Stella and… more Stella. Sometimes I hate how bourgeoisie Toronto can be, at the expense of real quality. On the bright side, I learned that - when poured properly - even Keiths can taste like liquid perfection.

Most of the evening I hung around the Delvinia crowd, but occasionally strayed to meet other people. I’d love to learn how to network well. One of my only real conversations with someone-I’ve-never-met was with a New Media Financier from RBC with an unusual name. I think one of the keys to networking is going to be remembering people’s names. I’m just really terrible at it.

Hopefully I’ll be ready to strike up conversations with attendees at FOOA… there are some really innovative minds there I want to chat with.

Unfortunately at FOOA I won’t have access to unlimited drink tickets.