Friday, March 13, 2009

Recession on Refreshments?

Earlier this week, I went to a networking happy hour that is sponsored by an agency that specialized in outplacement for people who work in creative fields. I was happy to see that they had not ceased this happy hours due to the bad economy. The continuance of the happy hours did not mean that these event continued as they had in the past: the invite mentioned "light refreshments." Last year those words meant quesadillas and fried plantains, plus salsa chips and a one free drink for everyone. This year it meant salsa and chips, plus a free drink for the 25 people who cornered the guy who was not advertising the fact that he had 25 free drink tokens.

But tonight, I went to a happy hour sponsored by a newspaper. Now by all accounts, the newspaper industry is seriously hurting...but this happy hour had free tchotchkes and lots of and food from a rather top notch restaurant. And they were generous with the pizza and the mini burgers.
Go figure. Is this a smart investment or are they fiddling while Rome burns? Either way, the burgers were good.

1 comment:

D. Bradley said...

Well, it is a sign that the job market is still viable. I hope the tschoskes or handouts are useful. The whole idea of people meeting to share ideas and war stories is an encouraging one.