Life Of Jason

Before I comment on my first impressions of a GOnnection event I want to send my condolences to editor Matt Lemmon and his family on the recent passing of his grandmother. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers, Matt.

I’d been hearing for months about the “GOnnection” events that GO Magazine hosts once a month and decided that since the wife was out of town until later in the evening to walk downtown and see if it’s all that it was cracked up to be. It was being held at The Batchelor’s pad, Trolley’s, where I’d only ever been inside once before in my life (and that was to kill 30 minutes before a Skinny Improv show) and thought perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone…get a meal at Trolley’s as well as check out the GOnnection.

Well, the meal option was eliminated thanks to a server at Trolley’s but I’ll get into that later.

I’d like to say I came away with a very favorable impression of the event (because I really like GO Magazine) but I have to say I was less than impressed with the whole event.

When I arrived, I came in the entrance of Trolley’s that was facing the square instead of the side entrance. The hostess at Trolley’s pointed me to the bar area where the event was happening but there was no one from GO that was welcoming anyone who came in that entrance. (There was a GO Magazine banner by the front door and nothing to indicate it was the wrong entrance.)

After I walked around and saw a box at the other entrance for door prizes I went over and dropped my name in the box (and said hi to Jeff Jenkins of the Skinny Improv as he was walking in from across the street) and wrote my name on a name tag. There were GO staffers by that entrance but they just told people to get a name tag and enter the drawing for prizes. I understand it’s a “low-key” kind of networking event but you would think they would have someone at least welcoming people to their event.

As I sat back and observed a large part of the gathering it seemed less like a networking event and more like an excuse for people to get together with their friends…in other words…a typical after hours at a downtown Springfield restaurant. There didn’t seem to be many people talking to folks they didn’t already know.

That feeling was confirmed later on when I spoke to two folks who seemed to be on their own little islands in this sea of humanity.  One was a man who was an accountant with an insurance firm and the other a woman who was a mortgage lender with a independent local firm.  Both of them said to me unsolicited almost the exact same words:  if you didn’t have people there you already knew there was little chance to really talk to someone.  As I watched through the event the gentleman always seemed to end up by himself after trying to spark up conversations (with men and women…he wasn’t hitting on the girls) and the woman settled in with some people she already knew although it seemed she was always at the fringe of their conversation.  (Again, just my view from the outside.)

Now, the appetizers provided by Trolley’s were pretty good.  The salsa was better than I anticipated it was going to be.  Unfortunately, I can’t say more about Trolley’s food even though I had planned to do it.

I sat at a table around 5:45 and waited for a waitress to come by to take my drink order.  Twice I had them go past and not notice me motioning toward them and I just chalked it up to their being busy.  Finally just after 6:00 a waitress looked at me and said “oh, have you been helped yet?”   (I know the time because ESPN had just switched to the College World Series which was slated to begin at 6:00.)  I told her that I hadn’t and placed my order with her.  She smiled and said she’d have it right back.  She never came back.

I sat at the table for half an hour waiting for my drink to arrive and the waitress never came back to my table.  Now, I know I could have gone up to the bar and gotten the drink on my own but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a waitress in the bar area.  And, after about ten minutes, it became kind of a game to see how long it would take for the drink to arrive.

So the waitress made up my mind for me not to try and get something to eat at Trolley’s.  I’m guessing the waitress was just overwhelmed and forgot my drink order…I’m sure that’s not typical service.  I don’t know Aaron Buerge but from what I’ve heard about him I doubt he’s the kind of guy that would let that kind of stuff be typical in his place.

All in all, not a very impressive night to me.  I might go back in the future if editor Matt is on the scene just to say Hi and chat with him for a few minutes but overall it seemed like unless you have friends to take with you there’s not much for someone to do at a GOnnection.

Now, the cynical side of me says it’s a great event for GO to host because they can get business cards from many potential new clients.   If that’s their whole intent, mission accomplished and cudos on it working so well for them.  They did have a good turnout (as you can see from the pictures.)

And it wasn’t all bad…I had a chance to chat with Grant Rader, a co-owner of DARK tanning salon and a former co-worker of mine at a previous job.    Toward the end of the event during the door prize giveaway I was able to chat for a few minutes with a nice guy who works at MSU.

My drink never showed up, though.