NETSAP Promotes Social Growth..and I Have the Numbers to Prove It.

It only hit me last month, that a fair portion of my Boston social network (perhaps 15-20 friends) stemmed from an initial meeting at a community or social NETSAP event. The unexpected statistic is that prior to this month when I actually joined as a member and a board member, I only attended 3 events in the past 10 months. And the 15-20 people aren't 20 people that all hang out with each other..actually most of them don't even know each other. I just happen to know them in groups of 3 or 4, or even 2 or 1. Here's my story....

Last July, I relocated here to Boston for work, from the Philly area. My main core of friends have been Philly based, South Jersey/CHILL..hellz ..the rest of Dirty Jersey..Penn Staters..and a plethora of Penn State Desis that now reside in D.C, NYC, Philly, or on the East Coast, and their networks. Moving to Boston for me, was kinda like breaking out of my "shell" (or groups of friends that I was comfortable with). It was in many ways (career and socially), starting from scratch. I only had 2 friends in Boston before moving here. One is still a great college friend from PSU, doing her residency here. The other is a friend of a friend, who is a film director..as you may have guessed..I have still yet to touch base with him.

So as expected, coming to work for the largest employer in the Boston area, there were many many young, single professionals and entry-level college grads that got hired on around the same time. I'm talking in the hundreds to thousands... Several of these guys and girls are some of my best friends here. We have tv/movie marathons during the week, or a restaurant of choice to check out and happy hr socials or apt parties and clubs to attend on weekends. I've had to socialize and network with individuals that have come here to Boston from everywhere from ASU in Arizona, to LSU, to Carnegie Mellon, to Rutgers..actually pick a school, basically anywhere in the U.S. It's like a Technical UN forum. However, with the exception of 1-2 desi friends from work, by the time August came..I really felt deprived of Indian culture and socializing, that I was soo used to back at home, or even at school.

So, the first NETSAP event I attended was Food Bank Volunteering for Greater Boston Food Bank. In summary, it was an easy 4hrs to volunteer on a saturday morning, you were able to pick whether you wanted to move carts, package, or the preferred task..sort..in this case sort boxed or canned foods. My take away was that I met individuals that later became to be friends..in a non-alcoholic environment!! Eventhough, I was still hung over from the night before..it was refreshing to meet new people at a community event, and alcohol didn't play a factor..no expectations, no digits, no thinking "is she into me?, should I ask her out?"..just people there for one common cause, volunteering for the needy. Right away I became friends with 3 individuals (actually throughout this entire blog, I am keeping these people anonymous, but I apologize if it gets confusing by leaving out names). Anyway, since then, the 4 of us meet about 1-2 times a month..it started with one of their Birthday parties at a hot lounge, then we continue now with brunches, or whenever we are available. Although, we all come from different backgrounds and our professions range from medical to engineering to finance, we still keep in touch and make it a point to have a social get together, even if we miss the monthly happy hr (which happens every month), we'll still meet to eat or grab drinks.

Event 2: My first happy hr..yes..memorable or not?? I did end up with 6 highly valued friends..a few of my best friends here in Boston. Ironically I ended up working with one of them, and the rest I had some odd bond to that whether it was a girl from Cally, or two recently married couples, we liked hip-hop, we talked trash, and whether it was a few of us that just moved to Boston, while half of em lived and grew up here all of their lives, it was easy and a fun time to make new friends. In this case, and like the others I will mention in the blog, I was unable to get my friends from Food Bank Volunteering to come with me to Event 2, so I have proved multiple times..that going to these events alone, forces you to put yourself "out there", meet new people, make professional contacts (i have so many business cards), and make new friends. Actually, even by the 2nd event, I met people that knew friends of mine from Penn State, PA, or Dirty Jersey. Boston is small like that though..it doesn't take too long before you start running into the same people on the T, or at Felt on Fridays or 33 on Saturdays, etc, etc.
btw, I believe this HH was at the used to be 180 lounge in the financial district...

Ok, finally Event 3: This Happy hr was set further out..like on BU campus off of the B Line so the problem I was confronted with again was 1. Conflict in schedule for my other friends to accompany me 2. My schedule since at this time I was on businees travel for about half of the month, 3. None of my previously established or newly founded desi friends wanted to trek all the way down Comm Ave for this HH location. Eventhough this place was mad hot! Tonic..I think it was called. So, at this point, when many of my friends were unable to accompany me, it was more like an invigorating challenge for me..how many new contacts can I meet??, what in the world is down there at the end of the B-Line anyway??, so...sure enough it was the next Thursday Happy Hour I was available to attend, which was in the start of 06, and the last I went to was ..Sept I think. At the end of the event, I made a number of new professional and social contacts, I occasionally meet with friend for dinner who's from the midwest, made a Bengali contact who wanted to accompany me to the Saraswati Pujo that I was attending the month following, made a business venture contact that I can not get into on this blog, some biological science professionals in Framingham, and made some friends that I saw out partyin in Boston in multiple occasions...and have warmly invited me over for home cooked Indian food.

So in summary, let's do the math: 5+6+6...through 3 events..and I forgot to mention on the way I've made over5 board member friends which actually drove me to become interested enough to impact more of the South Asian Professional Community here in the Boston area, by contributing as a board member. That's over 22 recurring contacts that I touch base or spend time with ~weekly, not to mention countless other individuals that I may interface with in the future on a professional or cultural level.

So Tushneem..I think that's the success story you might have been looking for!! :)

Tuhin