2011 and Introductions... has etiquette disappeared?

After this weekend's San Diego Comic Con, I am compelled to write a little ditty about the complete lackadaisical way that people deal with introductions. I am not talking about social intros in the sense of you are hanging out with some people and a random friend of yours drops by. Oops... No! I am talking about networking. The first rule I learned in business is that beware the people who keep their contacts secret. Why? These people often feel that it makes them special or elite to have these contacts, and that you may do them favors in order to obtain these contacts. They may feel insecure that you might steer the contact away from them, or they may just be a self centered person that doesn't realize how networking 'works'. Check out this article that talks about networking- http://jobcircle.com/blog/?p=2313

The purpose at something like conventions for the professional is to see what is out there, to meet people that you normally don't have a chance to interact with, and to market yourself to fans and other professionals in your industry. However, as the main problem with the comic industry has been and will always be, no one seems to view it like a business. Now that it has gotten some lifeblood pumped into it because Hollywood has come knocking at its doors for material and inspiration, the comic book business has become another league of secret keepers. The barriers to entry have surged to an all time high because now comic companies are looking to collaborate with actors and established novelists for material instead of those of us who have been knocking for years trying to get in. But I digress...

At a professional event, networking is always the goal. So when you are standing with someone, and someone else walks up that you don't know, it is the obligation of the person you are speaking with to break from the conversation, greet the new person and then introduce you to them. Here's a sample script:

Jim: Hi Bob, this is Jane. Jane is a writer and filmmaker. To Jane: Bob is an artist and writer, and he works with so and so.

Jane: Hi Bob, pleasure to meet you. Here is my card. I would love to see your work.

Bob: Hi Jane, nice to meet you. Here is my card, let's chat sometime.

Hands have been shaken, greetings all around, etc. This is a proper 'informal' business introduction. Believe me if you ask Syndi Seid, a professional etiquette instructor, this would not even pass her test. Yet, for some reason, this simple form was horribly defective during SDCC this year. There was lots of sidestepping, random comments,and first names thrown about but very little in the way of actual introductions. What has happened to professionalism? If you know that someone could benefit from an introduction, what is the harm? It's not like you are pandering, or begging. For instance, I know a lot of people in the music industry. I, however, have no aspirations to be in the music business. Then say Ted wants to be a singer, and I know a producer, can you give me one good reason that I shouldn't introduce them? How does it hurt me to help them? It doesn't, but it does make me a reliable contact, and in the future, if I need a song written for a movie I am making, I very well might be able to call on Ted to write that song for me. It could happen.

Networking is not about seeing how many contacts you can store up to make yourself feel important, and part of networking is being able to bring people together that might be able to work together or with you at some point in your career. So without the proper introductions this cannot happen and you are slighting yourself as much as you are the person standing next to you that you left out in the cold because of your lack of manners.
Great article about the altruism of networking: http://www.chichiokezie.com/2010_08_01_archive.html Good stuff!