BACK during the 2004-2005 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Phoenix Suns introduced Seven Seconds Or Less to the whole basketball world.
At its core, the concept was simple enough. The team plays an up tempo running game where the offense gets launched quickly before the defense even gets to set.
During that season, the Suns went 62-20 in the win-loss column during the regular season, a dramatic improvement from its 29-53 campaign in the previous season. Two key things happened for the team in between those two seasons—a change in its head coach and the arrival of a point guard with a very unique skill set.
The Suns became the most fun team to watch in basketball during that time, bandwagon fans suddenly appeared, and everyone was praising the team for the high octane offense, which some experts have even dubbed as revolutionary.
I cannot help but think of this after attending the recently held third annual Speed Networking Night hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (BCCP), French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (CCI France-Philippines), German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI), Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (La Camara) and newcomer Philippine-Netherlands Business Council (PNBC).
Arriving fashionably late to the event after getting stuck in between Senator Gil Puyat Avenue corner Ayala Avenue and Paseo De Roxas for close to an hour due to the unfathomable traffic, I rue myself for missing the toast to good business the five foreign chambers had on stage while holding drinks that were specific to their countries.
I also missed BCCP Chairman Chris Nelson and his very British wit and sense of humor during that evening. Some of the one-liners he throws around would just make me laugh really hard.
I know I have said this in the past, but Nelson could really make for a real good late-night television show host. They missed an opportunity to tap him to host the evening and work his magic on stage. But then again, maybe he had more pressing matters to attend that night.
Then there was PNBC Chairman Mart Ann Sayoc, who I also failed to see that evening. My apologies there, but I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities in the future for me to see her and get acquainted with the works of their chamber.
Just going back to that traffic encounter I had and I am not really using it as an excuse for being late, but if I am correct, the distance from that end of Ayala Avenue to Paseo de Roxas is just close to 1 kilometer. And again, people have to be stuck there for an hour? I just cannot imagine the amount of wasted gasoline and wasted time there. Imagine how traffic would be like as we approach the Christmas season
Note to self: Try to avoid going to same-day meetings or events that are more than 3 km from each other, especially during these times, when traffic practically crawls to a standstill.
Anyway, the Fairmont Hotel ballroom was packed with people having conversations and discussions all around. I do not envy those people who were on stage. They were probably getting very little attention, unless it was from someone who was being called on stage for winning something.
For the evening, La Camara Executive Director Barbara Apraiz told me that, aside from the fun the evening brought, there was a two-minute timer for those in the ballroom to follow.
This meant that you get to say hi and hello to someone, make a pitch about your company, get to know the other person and their company, and see if there could be some potential synergy within 120 seconds. Considering that there are more than 200 individuals who attended that event, most of them being decision-makers, there is, indeed, a good opportunity to network.
Surely, everyone that evening had enough time for food and drinks while also probably getting to add at least 10 business cards to their collection in the office. And two persons were lucky enough that night to go home with roundtrip tickets to Europe courtesy of KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines.
For CCI France-Philippines Managing Director Vanessa Hans, the event was a great opportunity for the members of their respective chambers to get to know each other.
Hans told me the event was a way to force people from different nationalities to talk to each other and encourage them to network. She said the networking night offers potential business partnerships for companies across a wide range of industries.
It was the same sentiment echoed by GPCCI Executive Director Peter Kompalla, who told me that even if the mechanics for the networking were not strictly being followed, it was still one of the best times for them to get to know member-companies of other chambers.
Between the five chambers alone, they have several hundreds of member-companies that could enter into partnerships, work together in projects, or become a primary source for products and services for the other.
But you know what? During the 2004-2005 NBA season, Phoenix and their Seven Seconds Or Less basketball style produced the best regular-season record. During the playoffs, the Suns overwhelmed the Memphis Grizzlies and passed through the Dallas Mavericks.
However, during the Western Conference Finals, they were easily beaten by the San Antonio Spurs, a team that was fundamentally sound and whose winning culture was painstakingly built over several years. The Spurs would eventually win the NBA championship that season.
In these day and age when speed has become vital, the speed networking night does make a lot of sense for all the right reasons. But for companies or individuals, for that matter, everything should start at having the right foundation and continuously doing things the right way.
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