Talk to everyone in the room, not just the people who look important.

technique — attributed to Jaclyn Bernstein

Bernstein arrived at the founding meeting of the International Special Events Society without an invitation, without a business card, and with a two-page resume nobody had told her was too long. Unable to produce a card at the front desk, she thought she was already a failure at this. Instead of retreating, she talked to everyone in the room anyway, by her own description probably the only student there doing it. Three decades later, the people she met that night, mentors, employers, business partners, still define the industry she works in. The technique was never charisma. It was refusing to let one early stumble decide who was worth approaching next.

For newcomers to an industry who assume a bad first impression disqualifies them from the room.

networking, persistence, industry-entry, origin-story