A few weeks ago, I attended a networking event held by the company Chandelier Creative. I hadn’t ever heard about the company and only came across their event, “Designing the Ephemeral,” while searching for design events on eventbrite’s website. And the event itself? It was not what I expected.

After doing some research, I discovered that Chandelier Creative is a “creative, media, and branded entertainment agency,” according to their website. They work with lots of different brands, such as Lululemon, Old Navy, Smart Water and Banana Republic to name a few.  They also hold events every month for a series they like to call “Truth Tellers + Trouble Makers.” Each event features a person with a tie to a creative filed and they have a sort of interview or lecture on a topic of their choice.

The topic of choice of the event I went to was entitled: “Designing the Ephemeral.” To be quite honest, I had never heard the term “ephemeral” before in my life, and considering that the event description seemed to be pertaining to design overall, I thought, why not give the event a try? I also had not heard of the speaker and the company she was affiliated with, but I didn’t view this as a bad thing. I believe that part of going to an event, especially one you may be completely unfamiliar with is a good way to learn more about a new topic of subject within any field.

The field our speaker Jill Singer of Sight Unseen. The company she helped co-find and is an editor-in-chief at is described on their website as a n” online magazine that uncovers what’s new and next in design and the visual arts, with a focus on independent makers working outside traditional disciplinary boundaries.” However, the talk I had the chance to go to happened to be solely on interior design.

I was surprised to discover a bit into the talk that this event was not what I thought I had signed up for. To be honest, a part of me wanted to get up and walk out because I’m a student of graphic design and have no use of interior design knowledge. For this event, I went with a friend of mine who is also a graphic design student. Needless to say, we were both confused by most of what we heard as Mrs. Singer spoke about her favorite interior design showcases. Even the audience questions portion of the event left my friend and I feeling like the words spoken in the room were just too far above our head.

After the event was over, my friend and I stood within the working space of the company. (The offices of Chandelier Creative’s employees is adjacent to the library-like room in which the event was held). We walked around the space and admired the layout of the office space. The desks were all in rows next to each other, each having a computer on top of it. The reception area at the front had a board filed with seemingly random pictures and the far left side of the room was a giant wall filled with images of inspiration that ranged in design aesthetic.

The event took place on a weekday, which meant that my friend and I had school that day and both had our backpacks with us. She and I both look fairly young, and the addition of a backpack only added to fact that we were young students attending an event populated by grown up professionals. I mention this because I realized one different of this event from when I attended Creative Mornings: no one ever decided to approach us and get to know us. Perhaps it was because we looked like “children” so to speak and thus wouldn’t immediately be able to assist in furthering their career right away. I only say this because I see networking as establishing relationships with other professionals within a certain field and seeing how the two of you might be able to help boost the other’s career, especially in terms of a collaborative project of some sort. Of course a student’s schedule would be very different than that of a person already working a 9-5 with major clients and important deadlines to meet.

In the end, my friend and I had a chance to speak with Mrs. Singer herself. We decided to be honest with her about how we were graphic design students who had no knowledge of interior design, but we also made sure to let her know that despite this, we did enjoy her lecture and were impressed by the interior design visuals she shared. We also met a woman named Karen Richter who also works in interior design and has had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Singer many times before. The company Mrs. Richter works for is called the White Arrow, in which she is the Creative Director, and her husband is the CEO. The last person I had the pleasure of meeting was Jacinta Chen who works in Experiential Marketing.  She is a former Account Director for the company MirrorBall. She unfortunately only had business card from her former company, however, they were amazing holographic cards that were a lot different from any business card I had ever come across.

Overall, it was interesting to experience an event in which only adults were expected to attend (primarily free 21+ drinks were offered at the event). Although I am of age, the way I dress and carry myself is more on the youthful side. So it’s very easy for most people to assume I am younger than I look. Of course, my assumption of no one approaching my friend and I in order to chat and exchange business card is nothing more than something I’ve come up with on my own. It may even be possible that no one approached me because I already had someone to engage in conversation my whole time at the event. These are all things I can only assume and not know for sure.

What I learned from this event:

• An event’s description may only seem vague because you may not be knowledgeable about the speaker and the type of work they are typically known for
• When a speaker is noted for an event, it’s probably a good idea to look them up and see if the talk may be something you’re actually interested in
• Going to an event with a friend is not always the best thing to do. You will talk to them too much, especially if you two don’t see each other much and have a lot of catching up to do
• Approaching strangers is never easy, but sometimes they may be really nice and eager to share what they do for a living – and that job may be something you’ve heard of but never knew the name of until that moment
• Going to an event about a topic you wouldn’t normally go to might help you realize different things that could be of interest to you in the future – or it might also let you know to stay away from that topic/subject all together