[blindlaw] Schmoozing

[Locke Milholland]

You could wear a braille name tag, just to even up the playing field.  Just 
be mindful where you pin it.


Seriously, I've used two techniques.  1. my wife goes with me.  She's a 
Deputy and works at the courthouse, so knows some of the folks herself.
2. go with another well known attorney who likes to mingle.  They'll know 
who to introduce you to and usually be glad to have someone to break the ice 
with.

3. when going alone, I've usually informed the host ahead of time that I may 
need some assistance finding the room, etc.  We have a fairly large judicial 
district, but the legal community is close and my law school feeds into it 
like the Mississippi into the Gulf, so I usually know at least somebody in 
the room, even if I don't like them.


4. If I'm alone and know no one, I lurk in the corners checking my watch 
every 5 minutes until it's time to leave.


Locke



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mazen" <jazenmazen at yahoo.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 5:32 PM
Subject: [blindlaw] Schmoozing


> Dear Blindlaw,
>
> I've been trying to figure out a good technique to manage professional
> social events--the best way to mingle in a crowded room.    Naturally 
> print
> name tags are useless.
>
> Have you brought sighted assistants with you to help find  people that you
> want to meet? Or do you randomly introduce yourself in a conversation?
>
> I've think both techniques leave much to be desired. A sighted assistant 
> may
> not recognize people , and its impossible to read everyone's name tag. 
> Also
> the social skills of the sighted assistant may not be quite up to par.
>
> On the other hand going alone and randomly introducing oneself in a
> conversation may enable you to meet some people, but if you're looking for
> someone in particular you may not get the opportunity to speak to them 
> since
> you can't find them and you end up talking to people you don't really want
> to talk to. Or you may find yourself in the embarrassing situation of
> interrupting a conversation where you're not really welcome.
>
> Option number three of course is standing and waiting for someone to
> approach you but this of course has the downside of that never happening,
> plus the problem of not finding the people you're interested in meeting in
> the first place.
>
> So, I'm curious am I the only one with this dilemma? If not, what has and
> has not worked for you?
>
> Back to billing time,
>
> M~
>
> Mazen M. Basrawi
> Associate
> Bingham McCutchen LLP
>
>


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