Digital Family Reunion Holiday Party Tonight

I just bought my ticket to the Third Annual Digital Family Reunion Holiday Party tonight! Tickets are set as $50, but there are plenty of coupon codes floating around that drops the price to $30; one of them is “dfr51” [Updated]. I have to admit I’m wondering if it makes sense to pay for events like this; I generally don’t like paying cover for any event. However, I do realize the benefits of networking events like this.

For example, I roller over fairly late to the Social Media Club Los Angeles Chapter‘s Holiday Party at Q’s Billiards Club last night. It was free to register and there was an open bar and food for people who showed up early enough. I was not one of them. However, it was great to catch up with Ryan Ellis and Chris Urban who are doing some very interesting stuff with the launch of their site, Skillocracy. My relationship with Ryan Ellis dates back to my Junior year of College when he came in to my Leading Entrepreneurial Ventures class as a guest speaker. My relationship with Chris Urban really started when we were on the same team during the 2010 LA Startup Weekend on project Peerlance. It’s always nice to catch up with fellow entrepreneurs.

I’m excited tonight to catch up with Dinesh Ravishanker from CallFire (@callfire) and Cameron Kashani and Avesta Rasouli of Coloft (@coloft). These are some of my favorite people I’ve met during the past few months. It just happens to be they’re both sponsoring this event. I’m sure there will be others at this event that I’ve been meaning to catch up with.

Entrepreneur’s are extremely busy, so much so that we sometimes lose touch with those important to us, both personally and in business. While sending an email allows you to communicate casually with them, unless you have something specific to share, it ends up feeling forced. Responding to their tweets shows them you’re interested in the same things they’re interested in, but also doesn’t spark any lasting conversation. These events, however, allow you to talk about the most random stuff, which I think is sometimes the best way to bond with people, and with lots of different people.

Networking events are a great way to “bulk network” with both new and old acquaintances in the same field. I’m looking forward to tonight.