Networking with Millennials
Before going on a hiatus for the summer, 85 Broads Toronto had its third event in June, a purely networking event at Hemingway’s, in trendy Yorkville, on a Sunday over a holiday weekend. The thinking behind the event is that singles in Toronto, who do not have cottages to go to, would attend the event. It was also a joint event with people who attended Cornell University.
I was surprised by the number of people who registered for the event. The reality is that with the exception of the three board members who committed to attending, only two people who registered actually showed up, but people brought their friends, which was a very good thing. Most of the people who attended were millennials. There have been many studies on millennials conducted over the past year that focus on their values, and what’s important to them. There have also been a lot of talk about three and sometimes four generations working in the same workplace. At the event, we had many conversations, and people were forming relationships easily and naturally.
As an introvert, I have problems in large groups because I find them quite draining. This group was small enough, so there were many one-on-one conversations. These millennials were interested in me, and what I do, and we had engaging and substantive conversations. I had a fascinating conversation with one person on self-mentoring and the notion of the invisible mentor. I had another conversation about the books I read for the Virtual Literary World Tour. They asked about some of the books I read – I mentioned Hunger: A Novel
by Norwegian writer, Knut Hamsun (Virtual Literary World Tour – Stop in Norway), and one person mentioned that he had just returned from a Scandinavian trip and had bought A Doll's House 
(Review of A Doll's House) by Henrik Ibsen for his brother. We launched into a conversation about A Doll's House.
Networking is about relationships, and in the end we want to be heard. At the 85 Broads Toronto networking event, I felt heard and the many millennials in attendance not only talked but they listened to what others had to say. The thing is this, if we truly listen to what others have to say, in no time we will find things that we have in common. Although this post is about networking, reading books make great fodder for conversations at networking events. It may have been the 85 Broads Toronto event itself, but I found networking with millennials to be no different from networking with other generations.
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