The new board started their year with a bang! Last Wednesday, several board members, OD practitioners, and BAodn members came together at Butterfly restaurant in San Francisco to mingle, network and learn from each other. I was able to join them and thought I would share my experience here with you:
I took the ferry from Larkspur to San Francisco. And after waiting for half an hour for a muni that never came, I decided to walk from the Ferry Building to the restaurant. The walk took me 20 minutes and with the muni delay, I would be an hour late. I worried that the event might be over. But I could not have been more wrong! When I entered the restaurant, I looked around and my gaze immediately landed to the right of the restaurant on a group of people engaged in lively discussions. I recognized a few faces like board president, Chanterria McGilbra, and board technology director, Pamela Davis.
I approached the group shyly, I am an INFJ after all. Chanterria saw me and immediately welcomed me giving me a warm smile and a hug. She then introduced me to another BAodn member who works with non-profits and I was off. For the next two hours I was engaged in conversations with almost everyone in the room. People were friendly and eager to meet each other. I met students, independent contractors, entrepreneurs, corporate OD professionals, management consultants and mental health practitioners. Some wanted to know about my mental health background, others wanted to discuss work opportunities in the bay area. Some had OD experiences to share while others wanted my opinion about challenging change initiatives. I was engaged and happy to be connecting.
After my stomach growled loud enough, I tore myself away to have some food. The appetizers were amazing and included spicy calamari, kobe beef sandwiches, edamame, and vietnamese strawberry spring rolls. Mmm...I wondered who is this group of friendly people who love good food? I was rather impressed that being new to OD and a student, that people still wanted to talk to me. Everyone was interested in meeting and chatting. I never felt, as I have felt in other circles, that people's interest was primarily for personal gain, but rather everyone seemed interested in personal connection.
After two hours, I realized I had to catch the last ferry back. There were still a handful of folks engaged in conversation with no signs of departing anytime soon. I said my good-byes and walked back with another BAodn member/long time volunteer. It was enjoyable chatting with her about her experiences with BAodn, and her work. I noticed the skyline and the colors of the sunset. This is one beautiful city! I got to the ferry two minutes before departure. I sat in my seat and smiled with satisfaction. Maybe being new to the Bay Area wouldn't be so hard. Specially, if I could continue to make connections like today. When is that new member social again? Oh yes, August 25th. Good. I will make it for sure.
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