Introductions
Networking, without the lanyards
Ask to meet a member, and say why. Name somebody you already talk with to vouch for you, and it goes to them first. Nobody is browsing a database of strangers, and nobody is put on the spot.
The difference
A cold message is a lottery ticket. An introduction is a favour called in
Plenty of good things start with one member writing to another. But the thing that actually works, in every industry, is a person saying you two should talk, and here is why.
So introductions are a real feature. Ask to meet somebody, say why in your own words, and name a member you already talk with to vouch for you. They can pass it on or decline it, and the person you wanted to meet never sees a request your voucher did not pass on.
What makes one work
Three lines that make an introduction worth passing on
What you do
The craft, the tools, the things you would actually be hired for. Not a job title.
What you are working on
The record, the series, the film, the fair in March. It is the reason anybody says yes.
What you want from them
An hour on hanging a show, a colourist's eye, a way in at a label. One thing, said plainly.
How an introduction happens
Asked, considered, made
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You find the person
Their name on a call, on a mentorship post or on a gathering they are hosting opens their page, and you ask from there. -
You ask, and say why
A few lines on why the two of you should talk. Name a member you already talk with to vouch for you, or ask directly. -
The voucher decides
With a voucher, it goes to them first. Passing it on is one press; so is declining, and a declined one never reaches the person you wanted to meet. -
They answer
The member you asked to meet reads your reason, and who vouched. Accept, and one conversation opens between the two of you.
The rules of the room
Nobody here is a lead
You cannot export the membership, you cannot send the same message to forty members, and you cannot use the club to sell services to the people in it. One member describing this as a database is enough for us to take a look at what they have been sending.
Ask twice and you are warned. Ask three times and you are gone. That rule predates all of this and it is not going anywhere.
Somebody I had met once at a supper introduced me to a gallerist with two sentences about my glazes. I had been writing to galleries for three years and getting nothing back. It is who says it.
Questions about introductions
Can I message a member directly?
Can I say no to vouching for somebody?
Can I take a request back?
Is any of this visible to the public?
Can I use Phyrne to hire for my company?
Say why, in a few lines
The requests that say what you want from somebody are the ones that get passed on. It is not more complicated than that.