Last night I attended a "One Party" after work event at the Urban Farmhouse. Urban Farmhouse in Scott's Addition seems to serve craft oatmeal and craft beer, an interesting menu. Oh you millennials, with your craft everything. True, it was mostly a happy hour, but they -- for some unknown reason -- had three people who were operating successful local businesses to each give a ten minute speech on how they got started and how they market.
The event was co-sponsored by the Richmond Ad Club, American Marketing Association Richmond, Legal Marketing Association, and the Richmond Chapter of PRSA.
Interesting, right? Especially for me since according to the published agenda, the speakers were supposed to go first at 5:30, followed by nearly two hours of networking (code for drinking and talking), ending at 8 p.m., instead of the other way around, which I hate because I just want the program, and maybe some free food.
Silly girl. When does anything ever start on time? The program started closer to 6:15 when the host introduced the first business partnership and was roundly ignored, as were the first business partnership, two young women who make a living renting out unique looking chairs and tables for weddings, parties, commercials, and movies. (How did they get started doing that? Where do they find the furniture?)
Okay, you amazing millennials, life must be grand for you. You all have these great marketing jobs, and you got them even though you have visible tattoos, Manic Panic (am I dating myself?) hair in shades of bright red, blue and purple, and you don't remotely wear "office appropriate attire." Here are the guys with the messenger bags; here are the women with the Lady Gaga shoes. Here are gluten-free choices on the buffet table for all of you. This event was certainly billed as a "party" in the title, and two hours and 15 minutes of "networking" time was programmed in so you could talk to each other. Your one job was to shut up for 30 minutes so three of your peers could each speak for 10 minutes about how they started their amazing businesses.
And yet, you could not do that.
You could not do that when the third speaker jumped up to the mic after the first speaker and called you all rude and reprimanded you for your bad manners and pleaded with you to hush up just long enough to show some respect to the people who had agreed to come there and share their stories, ever so briefly.
And you could not do that when the third speaker started her ten minutes by shouting into the mic, "Shut up, shut up, shut up." Standing in the back doesn't mean we all still can't hear the deadly continuous drone of your voices, you amazing millennials. Your lives are so fascinating, you cannot stop talking about yourselves for 30 minutes.
