Premier League Watch Party @ NBC Sports Lawn

I figured out today that if you want to meet people and socialize for future friendships and business partners a watch party is the place. I met so many people and bonded over yelling at the screen during a goal or penalty. What better way to watch matches than with fellow supporters.

As I walked in NBC Sports Lawn had a variety of games going on. You were able to win prizes and even play corn hole with others with a similar team preference. Walking into this social lounge by myself taught me three things:

  1. Do not be afraid, someone might want to approach you to interact but they might be afraid too and then nobody makes the first step. You make that FIRST STEP.
  2. Avoid being on your phone. This was really hard for me to do because when I am uncomfortable I tend to look at my phone so I look less awkward standing by myself. But do not, you will thank me later.
  3. Pace yourself. Yes there are free drinks but you do not want to be the one that does not handle her beer. So pace yourself to just feel a little bit more comfortable with yourself and your networking ability.

Before I walked into this lounge I put my phone up and walked straight to the bar. As I was looking around and trying to engage while in line, I realized I was one of a handful of girls there. By handful I mean one of 3 and there were at least 45-50 men if I had counted. Normally, I would of left but I took the bull by the horn and used that to my advantage. A different perspective in conversations and a ‘women’ in the room.

IMG_1767Right from the start I approached a group of guys talking about the soccer game that was airing. We connected on a league level and turns out that we were studying abroad in Spain during the same time, so we bonded over that. There were a lot of games which allowed people to  loosen up in a different environment. After they left because they were headed to a panel, I just stood there and looked around wanting to get my phone out to avoid the awkwardness but told myself to continue interacting. So I did.

I walked towards another group of people and introduced myself. They were so welcoming and chatty. So I continued this for about a couple hours. Stepping out of a comfort zone is very beneficial. You not only learn about you as a person but about other people. Walking into this lounge helped me build a start to some awesome friendships that I would of not made otherwise.

 

“Well this is not so bad, it is actually making it a lot more fun,” I told myself.

 

 

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