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Counting Cards at the AUTM Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament

By Jonathan Jensen posted 09-24-2012 08:47

  

When the first Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament was announced as part of the 2011 AUTM Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, I wanted to make sure I was prepared. I had visions of playing against the likes of Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, a former Pfizer patent attorney and 2004 World Series of Poker champion. I downloaded poker apps to practice on my phone and searched around MIT for Kevin Spacey.

When we arrived at the event at Caesar’s Palace, I was ready. I grabbed a drink at the bar and found a table with a good balance of both friendly and poker faces.  As the game went on, I chatted with the eight other people seated at my table. We talked about work, we talked about life, we cheered at well played hands, and we felt bad for the suckers that decided to attend one of the concurrent “serious” sessions.

Lady luck was not on my side that day and I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack. Although the aces were not falling to me, I did leave with a nice stack of business cards. I don’t think any of us were focused on networking, it just happened. And when I looked back, I realized that I got to know those eight other people (and the people I played with after I got knocked out of the tournament) much better than anyone I had met at a cocktail reception.

In my opinion, activities-based networking events like the Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament provide an atmosphere that makes it easy to “break the ice” with colleagues and helps form more meaningful and lasting connections than are usually made through traditional networking formats. At the 2013 Annual Meeting, AUTM is expanding its line-up of activities-based networking events to include a Trivia Contest and a Tequila Tasting Cruise along with the 3rd annual Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament sponsored by IPXI. See the annual meeting schedule for date and time of events.

The AUTM Annual Meeting draws people for the opportunity to network with colleagues and fellow deal makers. I say let’s have fun while we do it! Regardless of which activity you opt to take part in, be prepared with a large stack of business cards and plan to make some new friends. The 2013 Annual Meeting is only a few months away; I’m going to go add Rounders to my Netflix queue right now. See you in San Antonio!

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