I went into CMU with jc on Wednesday. I had an appt with Dan B, the head of the design school. Before meeting with him, Jared took me to his coffee people. It's called the Zebra Lounge... or Zebra Cafe...? well whatever, there's a sign behind the counter with cow print, so close. Someone wasn't quite on their "know your animals" game that day I guess. Anyhoo, as soon as we get there, big smiles, warm greetings... we get our coffees and Deirdre (I think that's her name? jc's at school so I can't ask.. anyhoo) comes over and asks me if he's always so quiet and does he talk much at home. :) Of course, I'm familiar with this question, if only they KNEW HOW MUCH HE HAD TO SAY!?! She goes on to tell me how kind and nice he is, how lucky I am and that we seem to make such a nice couple. I said, "no more triples, it makes him crazy...", then when I went to put my 'spoilers' in my coffee, she whispered to Jared, "Does she really mean it?" and of course, he just smiled and says, "no." Well no more quadruples then!
My meeting with Dan was great. He was (as jared told me he would be) incredibly kind. Dan had already supplied Jared with a few contacts to pass along, and when I left, I had a few more. We chatted about lots of different things and mostly I just wanted to connect with him since he's so well connected and respected within the Pittsburgh design community. As a result there was a phone message yesterday from someone in town wanting me to call them on Monday. Amazing.
This coming week, I have an appt with a small, creative studio on Monday and a slightly larger design company on tuesday. These continue to be informal meetings, I'm still trying to connect and plant my name in people's minds. Slowly but surely...
1 comment:
When ever I start a new job, or make a big move, one of the first things I do is forge a friendship with the coffee folks. These folks will make your life better. I often arrive to a line of 10 people, but the coffee folks see me and manage to make my drink and stamp my card before I get anywhere near the counter... saving me 15 minutes of wasted time. They hook me up with extra shots of espresso, or free cups... and all I do is ask how they are... and leave a few quarters for their effort.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not just a junkie trying to get a free fix... these folks are good people. You'd like them too. Once you hear even a fragment of their story, you quickly realize that they are impressive folks... and they deserve far more respect than they are typically given.
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