Advocacy-Matters-Summer-2022

MENTORING
Word to the Wise:
Mentorship at Mixers
Megan Keenberg, Van Kralingen & Keenberg
LLP, and Katherine Chau, Van Kralingen &
Keenberg LLP,
1.
Game Plan.
The Advocates’ Society’s End of Term 2022 marked a welcome return to in-person
gatherings after a lengthy period of Zoom parties. In-person networking
events provide mentors with a unique and underutilized opportunity to showcase,
champion and support our mentees. The opportunity is not just to introduce
our mentees to our own networks, but also to help our mentees foster
their own style of networking with a safety net in place. In our five years of working
together at V|K, Katherine Chau and I have co-piloted many a cocktail party.
Here, we share our top five tips for upping your mentorship game at a mixer.
Identify events that might interest your mentee and bring them as your plus one, or better yet, get
them on the list. Talk about your respective social styles and levels of comfort with schmoozing.
Put together a game plan based on your mentee’s schmooze style and comfort level, and the 5 Ws
of any given event (Who, What, Where, When and, Why). Discuss who is likely to be in attendance,
who each of you would like to meet, who is the organizer/host, who are the speakers (if any) or
award recipients (if any), what is the appropriate attire, what cause is being supported, the location
of the event, and its timing. If your mentee is unlikely to have many existing contacts among
the attendees, plan to arrive together and spend more time circulating as a duo.
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