the mixer.

Our team’s Business Development Center (BDC) is launching next month, so David and Jonathan have been connecting with entrepreneurs and businessmen in the city to promote the 16-week course.

David was invited to an entrepreneur event last night, and convinced me to go with him to mix and mingle.  I am here to report my experience to you.

If you are a girl, you know the foremost question in my mind: What should I wear?

Thankfully, my friend Amanda has been to these events before, and was able to prepare me: business casual.  So, after a thorough wardrobe search (I don’t seem to have a whole lot in the “business casual” department these days), I went out and bought a top to wear with my black linen skirt.  David wore a dress shirt and khakis, no tie.

We fit in fine—there was everything from jeans to salwar suits to mini-skirts, but for the most part, it was American business casual.

The “mixer” was from 7-10 pm at an upscale bar about a mile from our neighborhood.

I’d say there were around a hundred people coming and going and mingling throughout the night.  Eighty-five percent men, but David was impressed with the showing of women compared with the last of these events he attended.

There was an open bar and appetizers and a DJ and lots of eighties music.  You know, a mixer.

A business mixer (okay, I really hate that word) with almost all men is pretty hilarious.  The evening’s drill: make rounds of the room, drink in hand, hear each other’s pitches, exchange business cards, move on.  Almost no small talk whatsoever.  Men are so efficient.

You may be wondering why I was even there.

Because I’m an awesome wife, that’s why, who doesn’t mind standing at her husband’s elbow, smiling, looking immensely interested although I could only hear about fifty percent of what was being said due to the blaring music.  And because I got to insert some personal questions and make small talk every now and then.  I love hearing people’s stories.

Here were a few surprises of the night for me:

1.  There was only one other foreign couple present, middle-aged, and from their accents I’m guessing they were from Europe.  Not that we spoke to them.  Okay, I could be wrong about this, but there seems to be an unspoken rule that white foreigners don’t speak to one another in public–almost don’t even acknowledge one another’s presence–unless they are in a setting where white foreigners are in the majority.  So, there is a good chance that the only people in the whole bar we didn’t talk to last night were that other foreign couple.  This is one of those minuscule cultural anomalies that makes me laugh every time.

Anyway.

2.  The men were very kind and professional (I’m not going to lie, I had my doubts after certain stories from this country).  All shook my hand,  made eye contact, and included me in their business pitches.  They never assumed I was there as a wife, but a business partner.  Of course, I’m not a woman trying to do business here so I have no idea what it’s like, but I did feel very included.

3.  Almost every single person we met has lived in the U.S., many for upwards of ten years.  They have traveled a ton, some speak several non-Indian languages, and know American culture.  A whole different demographic from what I’ve experienced here.  I loved that, as an American, I wasn’t an object of curiosity to them.  I loved talking to them about Big Macs, Florida beaches, and their cycling trips in the Bay area.

I got to hear my husband work his magic (two years in youth ministry most definitely prepares you for striking up conversation anywhere), and see some genuine interest in what we’re doing with the BDC.  Many said that our city is the perfect place to launch a program like this, and the need for training is great.  We got pocketfuls of business cards, and David has already followed up with several contacts.

Incidentally, this “urban elite” is the exact demographic we want to reach with our church plant, the “unreached people group” of our city.  We’re very grateful that starting a business enables us to meet people we normally wouldn’t rub shoulders with, and last night we came away with a couple potential friends … one guy invited David to play ultimate frisbee Tuesday and Thursday mornings, a woman who has a house in Florida invited me to grab a bite to eat with her sometime.

I’m happy to add it to my list of one-of-a-kind experiences here in South Asia . . . maybe I’ll do it again!