Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1544997
SUMMER 2026 35 There's a fabulous panel and you're in the room with 50 people who, at least in theory, could hold the key to your next job. Now all you have to do is identify those future co-workers or employers, get them to yourself, and make an impression. Except that you're the kind of person who doesn't like crowds and sucks at small talk. You're outstanding with a storyboard or an animatic, but actually selling something—your script, your idea, your value as a team player—is a talent you've learned to use behind a computer or in a meeting once you're actually employed. So now you have to (gulp!) network. The people who excel at this kind of interaction will insist that working a crowd to your professional advantage, in addition to being part of building and maintaining a successful career, is also a learnable skill. It starts with a willingness to get out of your comfort zone. Lawon Exum, who is very much a people person, noticed what happened to the process of networking during and after the pandemic, especially among introverts. The Entertainment and Media Director for Disability Belongs™, Exum helps oversee a summer lab that includes advice from entertainment professionals on a variety of subjects including networking. First, Exum says, people need to get off their com- puters and phones: "We were in our houses for so long [during] the pandemic, and people are still going through withdrawal. They don't want to be [out] in person. I get it, but the world doesn't work like that." Much of it comes down to being yourself, maintaining perspective, and keeping your expectations realistic. If the very idea of in-person networking makes you—to quote that celebrated Network-er Howard Beale—"mad as hell," consider the process in a different light, and take some comfort in knowing that you're not alone. SUMMER 2026 35 W H E N I T C O M E S T O I N - P E R S O N N E T W O R K I N G , E X P E R T S S H A R E W A Y S T O G E T S T A R T E D A N D M A K E L A S T I N G I M P R E S S I O N S . T H E E X P E R T S D AV I D AVA L L O N E CO-LEAD, WRITERS CRAFT COMMITTEE NETWORKING SUBCOMMITTEE L AW O N E X U M ENTERTAINMENT & MEDIA DIRECTOR, DISABILITY BELONGS™ E L I S E P O W E R S FOUNDER, ELEVIEW CONSULTING D A N S A L G A R O L O CO-LEAD, WRITERS CRAFT COMMITTEE NETWORKING SUBCOMMITTEE K A R E N W I C K R E AUTHOR, TAKING THE WORK OUT OF NETWORKING D E V O R A Z A C K CEO, ONLY CONNECT CONSULTING AUTHOR, NETWORKING FOR PEOPLE WHO HATE NETWORKING