Shanghai Networking News - AsiaXPAT Champagne Mixer July '06

AsiaXPAT Champagne Mixer July '06

Events

Written by Alex C-G

Billed as "a mixer for those who don't need to network," the 6th AsiaXPAT Champagne Mixer last Thursday night was full of fresh faces and lacking in the usual networking crowd. Of all of the people there, I only recognised three or four, meaning plenty of new people to get to know.

I arrived at the scheduled start time of 8:00 pm to a very empty bar, with only two or three people sitting around, waiting for something to happen. Not even the AsiaXPAT staff had shown up at that point, leaving the few of us there wondering if we'd all made a mistake with our timing. Indeed, the waitress at the door told us the mixer would start at 9:00 pm. despite the emails and tent cards advertising the 8 o'clock start.

Things picked up a little around 8:45 and the mixer started to take off not long after. The crowd was more international than most, with people from Mauritius and South Africa, as well as the usual Americans, Europeans, Singaporeans and Chinese. Position-wise, I met a lot of managers and directors, as well as a few consultants and sales people. There were even a few English teachers thrown in.

The Venue, Jade on 36, in the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong was well-chosen, with lots of room to mingle or just sit and chat, and a large bar -- no pushing and jostling to get a drink here. That's not to say getting a drink was easy, however -- at least one of the bar staff was adamant they couldn't provide martinis, despite advertising a two for one martini offer in the emails publicising the event. Prices weren't easy on the wallet either -- beers seemed reasonable at 60 RMB each, but wine was over 100 RMB per glass after service was added. The two-for-one offer cushioned the blow a little, but I still left feeling uncomfortably lighter in the pocket.

Finally came the prize draw, with the chance to win three nights accomodation in Bali or a couple of bottles of wine. Personally, I'd have preferred to win the wine, since the big prize covers accomodation only -- flights are extra. I sense there could be a great opportunity for ticket scalpers here, preying on winners who've got tipsy on two-for-one champagne specials...

On the whole, it was a pretty good do, marred only by the expensive drinks and the martini fiasco. It certainly lived up to it's claim as a mixer for those who don't need to network. Looking at it from a business networking point of view, whether that's a good thing (meeting company managers and directors) or a bad thing (meeting English teachers) is an exercise left to the reader.