Memo to Rafat: Keep out the Riff Raff

I suppose one could argue that listening to Gordon Crovitz of The Wall Street Journal talk about media would be similar to listening to an Encyclopedia Britannica salesman talk about the need for reference material in print.  But that argument would be wrong.  Last night at Paidcontent.org's oversubscribed content mixer, Rafat Ali interviewed Mr. Crovitz in front of hundreds of people.  Unfortunately the crowd was remarkably self-absorbed (evidence of bubble?) and it was difficult to hear the dialogue above the incredibly loud conversations in the back of the room.  [The same dynamic existed at the summer mixer, when Rafat interviewed Arthur Sulzberger Jr. of the New York Times.]  The fact of the matter is that Mr. Crovitz is an icon and the rudeness of the crowd was embarrassing.  Mr. Crovitz explained that Dow Jones continued to look for acquisitions in a effort to get the audience to listen up.  So while the networking at the event was excellent, my recommendation is to make future events direct invitation-only so that for a least a few minutes, interested people can talk about and listen to serious things. 

Comments

[James Sheridan]

Great event last night overall. The best way to keep turn out down to those most interested is to charge $100. That way they either need to put on an expense account or have to seriously think about shelling it out themselves. I would reckon half the crowd would not have come out if there was a significant cost. You could also say part of the proceeds will go to a nonprofit so you don't look like you are just feathering your pockets. Let me know if I can help with the nonprofit angle for the next event (Full diclosure: I'm a professional fundraiser for the Institute for Student Achievement- studentachievement.org). Keep up the good work.

[bullz-eye]

I think it's difficult to combine a mixer with an interview. The whole point of a mixer is to bring people together in a casual, social setting. They are there to talk and meet people. Trying to get everyone to be quiet for an interview in this setting is unrealistic.

If you want to have the interview as well, do it in a separate room with seating, preferably before the actual mixer. Or, don't do the interviews at all. You don't need something like that to have a successful mixer. Leave the interviews for the seminars.

[Erik Weiss]

From a networking perspective the event was a tremendous success. It's just not the right venue for a fireside chat. Expecting people to be quiet and listen to an intimate discussion in a crowded bar with free drinks is not reasonable. That's for a different setting.

[ccalder]

It was unfortunate that people couldn't hear Gordon. But let's not lose sight of the fact that "It's all about networking stupid." I was on the balcony and it seemed to me the WSJ folks were being just as rude by trying to SHHHH! people who were so far back they couldn't possibly hear or see Gordon. Next time if you want people to pay attention have your main speaker prepare a video and crank up the volume. Keep it free to maintain the energy. Help your sponsors to come up with more creative promotion opportunities. Boring corporate pitches and white papers belong at Ad:tech not a hiptser event like the NYC mixer. Overall it was an awesome networking event. Thanks Rafat.

[Nicole Reynolds]

Last night's many-times-oversubscribed mixer certainly lived up to the buzz that has been gathering over the past week or so. I would agree with the suggestions put forth here about charging a fee, having a seperate room for a speaker and Q&A format or even a invite only list. Perhaps even having more events, some free some by special invitation, would keep the crowds down bit. It was actually difficult to move around and work the room since it was so crowded. I was rather taken aback by some comments earlier with regard to the behavior of the crowd when being asked to keep the noise down that displayed an astonishing attitude of entitlement. While I agree that this might not have been the venue for an interview, the fact is that we were all guests at the event and showed absolutely no respect to Mr. Crovitz who probably has better things to do than talk to starry-eyed dotcom millionaire hopefuls. We were really lucky to have him show up and give us his time so I hope next time people are a little more mindful of that. Separately, I want to commend Rafat and his team at ContentNext for the tremendous work they are doing. I think it's the best source on the Internet for new media news.