The Girl with the Moleskine Notebook

Yesterday I attended the 20th anniversary party for Professional Sound Magazine at the Roosevelt Room in Toronto. It was a great networking opportunity with a variety of different types of people in the music industry. Mainly there was producers, but there were also managers, musicians, songwriters and students and other people looking to network in the industry.

Most people nowadays have smartphones of some sort (iPhone, Blackberry or Androids), but I don’t. Nor do I have a business card, yet. What I do at these events, is carry around my Moleskine day planner. It wasn’t the first time, I have done the same at NXNE conferences. Yesterday, some guys joked around about how I was being old school, but I actually love doing things this way.

There’s something special about opening up a notebook and seeing the various things written in there. I carry around a day planner, but really I hardly plan my day in it. It’s full of lists, doodles, pictures, notes, and contact info. The Moleskine becomes a book of treasures.

Additionally, I think I got remembered as the girl with the Moleskine Notebook. I wasn’t going to be a business card or just another number in a phone that was going to be forgotten about the next day. Even getting someone to actually write down their contact info develops a more personal relationship. You have to have talked them up enough to be comfortable to ask or for them to be comfortable to give it to you. At times, what they write can be even more personal or direct way of contacting them compared to what may be found on a regular business card.

Long gone is the day where people write their numbers down in a phone book, but there’s something wonderful about getting people to write in your book. Sometimes they leave a personal note, or a picture, or maybe one day a person may become famous, and you would have their autograph. This girl with a Molestine notebook, won’t be getting rid of hers anytime soon.