In my element at Reach Mag’s The Buzz Mixer
I wasn’t going to review this event because I am a huge supporter of Reach Magazine, which makes me a little biased, but I just felt I had to. I didn’t take any photos but they can be found on BC Business’s The Socialist blog in time; blogger Sheryl K. Yen was there taking pics of guests including myself. Believe me when I tell you there were a lot of fly looking people there.
The event was held last Friday August 13th at Joseph Richards Lounge, which was featured in a past issue of Reach. Guests got free drinks, and the first 50 people received gift bags from sponsors. The first hour or so was spent networking before a short lineup of speakers. I’d never been to the lounge when it was the Stone Temple, so I can’t really comment on whether or not it was better. It had an art deco flavour and there were some cool light fixtures. It was dark, but it IS a nightclub, and a little small for my taste, but a perfect venue for a business mixer with no more than about 100 attendees.
The night was short, but I met so many great people – mostly entrepreneurs that were young both in age and company – that it was one of the most memorable business events I’ve been to this year. Imagine your target market cramped into one event – that was my experience. Right off the bat I met Meena Mann, host of FMA Weekly, Sheryl Yen, Christine of Chopstix Studio, Stephanie Sia of Dolce Delights, who brought her awesome mini cupcake creations (she is only 20 years old!), Ravy Mehroke of Bombay Brow Bar, Sheida Shahlapour of Investors Group, Minna Van of The Network Hub, Raul Pacheco-Vega of Hummingbird604.com, and Misty Greer of Trunk Show, who gets my best-dressed of the evening with her own Cabaret-style couture.
Then Editor-in-Chief Dammy O. introduced MC Meena Mann and talked about why he started the magazine and held the event. Speakers were as follows:
- Michael Tao of AskMeOutNow.com & Define Magazine
- Devon Brooks of Blo Dry Bar & Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
- Allen Ko, Photographer
- Alisha Mann of Alisha Mann Ventures
- Ryan Holmes of Invoke Media and Hootsuite
A few more were scheduled but couldn’t make it or declined last minute.
I was documenting the speakers’ words (with much difficulty!) on Twitter so if you go back to my feed a few days back you’ll see what I took away from them. Dammy also thanked the people who helped to make the magazine happen, and gave me a shoutout for supporting… he is the one who featured me in their ‘The Buzz’ section two issues ago, so really I have a lot to thank him for.
The rest of the evening went back to networking, and I met even more great people including Karm of Vancity Buzz, who is even cooler in person than on Twitter and online. I owe him a drink next time we meet.
I’ll end this review by thanking all of the sponsors who made the night possible and who donated some awesome swag in the gift bags. I hope Reach continues to put these events on at least quarterly, so that more of the people who’ve been featured in the magazine, among other local and young entrepreneurs, can continue to make connections and keep the local business community thriving. After all, that’s why I come to these events.
Vivian Ko Gooch and her team at Wink Beauty Lounge were there doing lashes for the ladies and moustaches for the men!
Terracotta Modern Chinese
Unfortunately I couldn’t sample the patties on rice that Terracotta brought, but meeting Eric (and devouring 5 of Dolce’s mini cupcakes) made it all worth it.
violet hill boutique (newly launched – click on the link to add them on Twitter)
Chopstix Studio specializes in makeup and photography for weddings.
This is one of the most clever business names (and concepts) I’ve heard of this year, and I found out about it through Reach. Can’t wait to try out the sample!
Reach Magazine features the newest – and hippest – local businesses that you won’t typically hear of, and that you’ll never read about in other business magazines, newspapers or sections. In Reach you’ll get inspired by cool people and their even COOLER businesses, and read tips about how you can get started or just about how they go started. No stats on annual revenue, who just got elected director of XYZ public company, or what salary the CEO makes this year. And best of all, it’s FREE.
That’s why I’ll always support them, and you should definitely try and come out to the next Buzz Mixer – check back often at ReachMag.ca and subscribe to their blog.
