Company Came Up With A Networking Strategy And 30 Twitter Users Transformed It Into Memes
Everyone always preaches about how important it is to network with people throughout your whole life. Indeed, there's a chance of you connecting and creating a business relationship with mutual benefits, yet many find this type of occasion to be rather discomforting.
Though it's true that business networking essentially allows you to progress within your career, the event could be relatively awkward and tiring. You never know what to say or how to start the conversation in general – however, this Twitter user posted a photo exposing a new strategy that might suit some but will probably seem a little excessive to most.
A pile of coffee cups stacked together on a table labelled with a variety of conversation topics such as strategy and artificial intelligence, alongside a sign that invites folks to pick a cup based on what they'd like to discuss the most, provoked a bunch of Twitter users into creating hilarious memes.
More info: Twitter

Image source: jordanmapes
There's nothing more distressing than having to socialize with professional folks during some work conference, let alone being forced to choose a labelled cup to encourage a conversation in an already awkward environment. Besides, it seems that the original poster is also not a fan of this particular method, as Mapes wrote that she'd simply rather withhold from drinking the coffee.
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I don't normally upvote things that are not comments, but when I do...
The event took place in 2018, in Helsinki, and was hosted by a company called Nordic Business Forum, where they'd gathered together a whopping amount of CEOs, top executives, and entrepreneurs from over 40 countries. The organization that invented this interesting coffee cup method is primarily focused on assembling a bunch of events, plus, they offer a variety of learning experiences in a form of online courses and large conferences.
On their website they reveal that at their conferences, "the world’s best business experts help leaders take their leadership skills and business to a new level. Through our community of international leaders, people can find new connections and widen their networks. Finally, we wrap the learning and networking into an extraordinary experience in order to inspire and empower business leaders to change the world."
And clueless people will see you drinking and say, "Oh, ha ha, I like your cup. Do people leave you alone when you use it? Is that something you think I should get, too? Idk, I like it, but kind of want to talk about strategy or artificial intelligence. Speaking of AI, where do you stand on that? I think the robot uprising will kill us all. What do you think?" And I'd say, "I think this cup should come with a taser."
There would be a constant shortage of green cups. Unless I’m meeting friend(s), I just want to be left tf alone. I don’t need artificial conversation starters. Should a conversation start organically, it might be a different matter, and depends on my mood. It’s a coffee shop, not a dinner party.
Despite many Twitter users joking about being unimpressed with the whole forced socialization idea, the strategy could be extremely useful, especially now that organizations are slowly bringing their staff back together.
Many employees have lost their formerly outstanding interaction skills due to the pandemic and that endless isolation. Folks have been working from home for a couple of years and it's definitely hard to just ignore the habit that you've developed for the last couple of years. So, it's for sure an interesting method that could encourage people and get rid of the unnecessary nervousness during social events.
Lol my husband might. His extended warranty came with lifetime free oil changes. He has not paid for an oil change in 13 years and gets it changed every 5,000 km. So the extended warranty has more than paid for itself now. 😆 The dealership that offered it was the real sucker.
Load More Replies...The other options: Nigerian Princes, Medicare, and Asian Language Voicemails.
However, many people seem to disapprove of networking events in general. For instance, a lot of people think that it's a waste of time because establishing true and beneficial connections is not something that happens relatively quickly, as you can't just give someone your business card and ask for a job on the spot. It's a time-consuming process and most frequently, even if you'd be able to develop a meaningful connection with someone, you don't have any power over the company itself, so you never know when or even if the network can actually help you to progress career-wise.
And most importantly, people struggle with their talking tactics, so it'll also take some time to perfect those in order to start attracting potential connections. Though, if you believe that networking is something that works for you, it wouldn't hurt to have an additional plan on the side that will also impact on your career. For example, develop random skills that will draw your candidate in during interview processes and focus on creating a terrific portfolio.
If we can talk about Bruno we can take about .....x.x
Load More Replies...why did i read that unicorns did a double take read it as onions and got very confused 😭
I'm now imagining a unicorn with a big red onion impaled on its horn, and a Teamsters logo painted on its butt.
Load More Replies...So did I... and then I saw the u and thought, "They spelled onions wrong!" and then I remembered unions is actually a word....
Load More Replies...I read "onions". Then thought that was intentionally misspelled because the holder wants opinions, and wants to talk about how absurd the cup idea is. Then laughed at the absurdity of the intention. Then realized I just need to go back to sleep. 😐🤦🏻♀️
Nevertheless, talking to random people, even if they could greatly affect your professional growth is not something that could be done easily. Most of us are polished introverts that don't want to talk to anyone and are happy with standing in the corner of the conference room with our work bestie, just waiting for this emotionally excruciating time to be over.
Genuine question to anyone/everyone : what’s your favorite dinosaur? Personally I like the spinosaurus.
I had a friend who spent an entire day talking about dogs. ALL DAY. Before a TEST.
Load More Replies...*everyone sharpies in DOGS over their actual cup text so no one is left out :)*
Razorfish Wrasses (Iniistius, Xyrichtys, etc) have the ability to swim through sand.
However, if all the formalities and professionalism could go away for just a moment, the examples that this hilarious thread has offered us would probably cure the introversion of the whole entire planet. Work culture would become more exciting and, who knows, maybe the efficiency and the performance of the companies would skyrocket to unimaginable success. I mean, who wouldn't want to talk about dogs during some networking event?
We know the same percent of space as we do the ocean, but things can live in the ocean, BIG things
There is WAY too much unexplored ocean, especially considering it's on our own planet.
Load More Replies...Bite? You're thinking of Dracula, not Frankenstein.
Load More Replies...A sandwich is a filling, usually meat, between two pieces of bread. It is a sandwich. Ravioli is not.
Load More Replies...NO, IT'S NOT A DAMN SANDWICH! A HOTDOG IS STILL A HOTDOG WITH OR WITHOUT THE BUN A SANDWICH IS NOT A SANDWICH WITHOUT THE BREAD!
Then, the question is "If you put a hotdog inside a hotdog bun, have you made a sandwich?"
Load More Replies...I going to put this one to rest. It is. By definition. A sandwich. "A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type." Look it up!
Technically, yes. So is a taco. I still don't think of either that way, however.
How many holes does a straw have? If your answer is one, then how many holes does your pants have? Or a Tee shirt?
Then define a sandwich in a way that excludes hotdogs, yet includes a sub. Unless you don't think a sub is a sandwich.
Load More Replies...Trust me, Jehovah's witnesses are not Christians.
Load More Replies...I would most likely be using a cup like this at a church-related conference, so this would work.
But EVERYBODY enjoys talking about The Flying Spaghetti Monster, that is simply a given.
My husband and I are pagans, and he follows a Kemetic (Egyptian) path. Once when we went to a pagan pride event, we drove up to a couple and said, "Can I talk to you about our lord and savior?" When they rolled their eyes, he said, "Anubis."
i love how they took the time to change the other cups in the background too
I’d literally have one of each of these cups all crammed into those pinchy arm spaces near my elbows.
Me too, I want to summoning demons, talk about wierd dreams AND asses I work with. Son not cool
Load More Replies...i need the mugs with how summon a demon in the ones with anime/manga
"How to summon demons" tbh my vision ritual kinda looks like I'm trying to tho
She is the sister to - misinformation, misdirection, misdemeanor, mistake, and her cousin misanthrope.
Load More Replies...I'm in in this one immediately! Always happy to find a fellow star wars nerd
Lmao this one is me. And apparently one other random person in my small city who has a license plate that says URMOM.
I just realized that they have a transgender pride flag emoji🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️ ( im not trans but i think this is awesome!
e^(i pi) = cos(pi) + i sin(pi) = (-1)+0= -1 [I'm sorry couldn't resist myself, don't kill me]
Load More Replies...I thought it was an item found in a Scandinavian department store
They could be playing that game.... moving statues or something
Load More Replies...shut up and take my money, and give me some coffee. i dont dont have time to waste talking to randoms, IRL
I want to make the people who thought this was good idea take a random cup and be made to talk about it
I certainly see how this would be uncomfortable. However I have to give them credit. It's creative and could be very effective.
shut up and take my money, and give me some coffee. i dont dont have time to waste talking to randoms, IRL
I want to make the people who thought this was good idea take a random cup and be made to talk about it
I certainly see how this would be uncomfortable. However I have to give them credit. It's creative and could be very effective.
