Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tomorrow will be one of the biggest days I ever had in my short "journalism" career, and I have been nervous about it all week. The Washington Wizards are throwing a NBA draft party, for the members of the media who have covered the team. And since I have been covering the Wizards on and off for this site, I was fortunate enough to get an invitation.

Now, there will be some members of the media there, who will have absolutely no pressure on them at all. They are veterans, they know all the Wizards brass, and this will truly be a party for them. Then you have people like me. I will be out there on my own, forced to network and make small talk with people who I may be competing and working against in the coming months. I usually don't care about being liked and well-received, but when it comes to something like this, it is absoultely vital that I get my name and the site I am affiliated with out there. I will be that new kid in the cafeteria who is searching for a clique to sit with, and that terrifies me to some degree. On one hand, this is the chance I have always wanted, and that excites me a whole lot. But on the other hand, I don't want any of my Rashad tendencies to overtake me, and mess things up, because I am feeling nervous or awkward. For the most part I have complete confidence in my ability to rise to the occasion and give 150%, but still, I have a certain degree of nervousness that gets stronger as the Thursday, 7:30pm party gets closer. I'm hoping that this is all for nothing, and when I write about what happened on Friday, I will feel stupid for even feeling like this.

Thank you for "listening" to my stream of consciousness.

7 comments:

Neil MacLean said...

No I can understand. This is like me going to a graphic design association event and not knowing anyone. What tends to happen with me is that I find one person that I can talk to and stick with them. Not the best strategy when you're supposed to be networking.
You have business cards?

rashad said...

sixfive-
i have no business card as of yet, but we're working on it

Anonymous said...

It'll be a breeze...the Rashad as of late has been social...you got this

maxwellsmusze said...

rashad you'll do great i'm sure!

this is a good kind of nervous.

Janelle said...

Put Larry David in the corner and work your magic son!!!! You got this! Man up and if all else fails, drink some wine! LOL

Miss Black River said...

I'm reading a great book "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Great one for your long-term networking needs. I'll e-mail you some highlights for tomorrow.

£ said...

Go Rashad! Wield those skillz like you've never wielded them before!