I recently attended a technology networking event in Washington, DC called Twin Tech.

It was created to bring the New Technology Tycoon (Internet moguls, web 2.0 types ...) together with the Old Technology Tycoon (system integrators, government tech contractors), all in one place at one time.

About 600 people had reportedly registered for the event. In addition, the organizers reserved some additional space for "spill-over".

It was a great event and I hope more are planned!

Now my strategy was to identify some key contacts to meet ahead of time, as I always try to do. In this case, I simply identified some of the companies listed as sponsors, with the intent of meeting them and pitching The Looney Executive Emerging Growth Series.

I would meet them, mosey around to make some other contacts, and call it a night.

It was, shall we say, a very simple plan.

I Made Simple Plans ... Then Life Simply Happened!

But when I arrived at the club, located in the trendy U-street area of DC, I quickly realized that my strategy had to change ... damned fast!

Here's why:

• The place was packed! It was wall to wall people. You couldn't move an inch in any direction without bumping some part of your anatomy into someone else.

• There was no real structure. It was just hundreds of people moving from one Technology Tycoon or Tycoon Wannabee (such as me!) to the next.

• There were a handful of tables scattered about for demos and the like. Otherwise, I didn't see any formal sponsor area.

Making The Right Adjustments

Former basketball player Michael Jordan was famous for saying:

"I don't force the issue. I take whatever the defense gives me and make the right adjustments"

In other words, if they play a little loose to take away his drives to the basket, he might shoot jump shots. If they play tight to take away the jump shot, he'll drive to the basketball."

Forgive my analogy if you happen not to be a basketball watcher.

So, with Mr. Jordan in mind, I decided to take another approach:

• First, get a free drink from the bar. I chose the house Cabernet. I have a purple spot on my white dress shirt to prove it.

• Secondly, move through the crowd slowly, using my bionic eye to identify anyone not already engaged in deep discussion with someone else

• Third, read their name sticker to determine their name and company (many had names but not companies)

• Finally, with lightning speed ... move in for the kill!

This proved pretty successful, as I acquired many prize Tycoon business cards.

At moments I watched others employing my strategy, probably with great success. After all, there wasn't much else you could do under the circumstances.

Lessons ... Lessons ... Lessons!

Here are the key lessons I learned from my experience:

• Things rarely go as you plan, even a simple plan. So learn to make quick strategy adjustments.

• Move quickly. You're rarely the only business Tycoon eyeing a certain contact or market. So move with lightning speed if possible.

• You must stay focused. For me, there were beautiful women galore at the event. But I kept my eyes on the prize - making as many contacts as possible. You must stay focused on your true goal and limit off-road transgressions ... unless your goal was to simply get a date!

Now it's off to the cleaners to get that damned purple stain out of my shirt!

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