Angela Tung Oversharing on the internet since 2005.

MB and I hung out a bunch. We saw a couple of movies, The Golden Compass and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, both of which were good in different ways. Wel also walked around Central Park, and on Sunday night, he cooked dinner, grilled salmon with a bunch of veggies and tiny potatoes. Yum!

Last night was my team’s holiday party. At first I was excited because it’s been a few years since we’ve had anything like that, what with all the budget cuts, but then the day before we got the following email from the director of operations:

You may have heard the term “elevator pitch” before, but it could similarly be termed “cocktail party pitch”. The concept is that if you have 30 seconds to explain to someone what you do…what would you say?

Drafting an elevator pitch was an exercise done at a recent team offsite, and I found it quite useful not only to help me frame for myself what it is that I do, but also to help me concisely communicate that to others. At the offsite, members were asked to complete the following template and then practice it with each other as they mingled around the room. It may sound a little quirky at first, but you might just find it helpful tomorrow night!

“Hi, my name is (insert name), and I work for the (insert team name) team in (blah blah unit). We’re the group that focuses on (insert brief description of your group mission). The role I play is to (insert what you specifically do to further that mission)”

As an example, here is the modified one that I put together for myself. “Hi, my name is Condescending Asshole. I work for the Blah Blah Unit. We’re the Unit that focuses on some sorta bullshit. The role I play is to be really condescending, and to make adults with years of working experience and degrees up the wazoo feel like three-year olds.”

My tip is to practice it a few times at home, try it out at the party, and then make any necessary refinements as you read people’s responses. It just might prove useful as you continue to explain to your colleagues and friends what it is that you do.

Are you fucking kidding me? I mean, FOR REAL?!?

Obviously on that second paragaph, I took some creative license.

I almost decided not to go to the party, just in protest of that email. I heard from one of my coworkers that some folks did just that. But in the end I decided to go, for observational purposes.

Turned out to be fine. Very cazh. There was an open bar but MINISCULE food. I ate about four hors d’oeuvres and so was starving afterwards.

Cuz of the booze I had a craving for something fried and salty, so MB suggested A Salt and Battery. Fish and chips! Woohoo! Totally hit the spot. The couple next to us were sharing a deep fried Mars bar, which sounded disgusting last night but right now actually sounds kind of good.

My last writing class tonight, and and perhaps the last one in a while, at least till I finish my MLS program. Orientation on January 12. Yay!

I’m so not in the mood to be at work today. Am I ever?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 9:09 am and is filed under rant and/or rave, weekends, work. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.