5 ms·

Do people stil do business cards?

by cyanydeez 2y ago

LikeAnElephant 2y ago
Yep, I do. It's a baseline expectation in my experience when working within less technical industries.
- throwadobe 2y ago
  within any industry, really, even technical ones... "Tech" seems to be the exception.
bicx 2y ago
Honestly, if you’re in a job where you meet potential connections in person, it’s a lot easier to give someone a card with your info rather than to tell them how to find you on the internet and hope they remember.
- onionisafruit 2y ago
  I was at gophercon last month, and I vowed to get calling cards before next year. Getting out your phone and typing contact info is awkward by itself. Add in my hearing loss and it gets even worse.
iancmceachern 2y ago
Yes, in some circles it's weird to use them, but in my experience those circles are the weird thing. Those circles are usually software folks and startup folks in places like the SF bay area, etc. In those situations everyone trades linkedin profiles or adds eachother to contacts as we are standing meeting eachother. That leads to very weird social interactions which are the norm in these circles but are definitely not normal social behavior in the broader world. In the broader world, everyone has a card. It would be weird if you were giving a police report and the deputy told you his linkedin profile address, or whatever. Same for your plumber, business card make sense and a aren't going away.
- derefr 2y ago
  But, whether in a personal or a business context, I don't do... either of these things? Mostly, if I'm meeting someone for the first time in person, then it's either through friends, or at an event. If it's through friends, I just... meet them. No "connect." We have a conversation. We say goodbye. If I want to reach out to them later, I ask the friend I met them through to reach out for me. Simple and 100% effective. If it's at an event, I might ask for, say, their Twitter handle. (Or, if they're an artist, their Instagram handle; or if they're a maker, their Etsy store; etc.) But I won't interrupt the conversation to write it down, let alone add them right then and there. I'll just remember the handle, and if I really care, I'll write it down after the end of the conversation. Or, if I care slightly less, I'll forget it (or not bother to ask for it) and then if I decide I care later, I'll google their name + the name of the city we were in (or the city they're from) + their occupation and/or company they said they worked for. ...and outside of those two contexts, then I'm likely not meeting the person for the first time in person, so I don't want/need a card. My plumber? They're already in my house. I presumably called them. I know who they are. I found them online, probably. "Their card" is their website/Facebook page/etc. A deputy at a police station? I don't even need to know their name. They're a public servant with a uniquely role in their department. I'm guaranteed to be able to look them up at any time by role on the police department's website, and/or call the police department's non-emergency number and ask for them by role.
  - iancmceachern 2y ago
    The first situation doesn't apply, I don't generally give my business card out in personL situations either, and let relationships organically happen as they do. That's not this. Thanks for the second example, it gets right to my point. Yes, in San Francisco if you ask the average professional for their Twitter handle that may be a way to contact them, etc. In much of the broader world its weird to assume people have one (I don't). It's weird to assume that that would be the way to contact them. Most of the world still uses email, phone and whatsapp/etc replacements for such to communicate. If I'm meeting someone for business purposes I want to know their business name, address, phone number and email. I don't want to know their recent tweets, etc. I just want to know what number to call when I want that service.
Brajeshwar 2y ago
Not necessarily but here is how I do (I'm in the technical industry). I will try to initiate the iOS Bump thingy > if not goes to a backup tool called HiHello[1] (universal) > then the business card. Of course, if I'm in the company of either Japanese or if I see people handing out printed business cards, I have my super well-done minimal but still beautiful paper business card. The paper ones lasts a very long time (years) these days. 1. I stumbled on HiHello (I think on HackerNews) and I can use this by just swiping the home screen for the widget and don't have to ever open the App. https://www.hihello.com https://www.hihello.com
Stedag 2y ago
For conferences and trade-shows where there is an expectation to network. My company gives us conventional cards with little qr code v-cards. I only needed a handful of cards for a recent event as I'm not one of the sales engineers. When I realized I wouldn't have any in time if I requested them, I saw it as an opportunity to understand the v-card format and qr codes and write https://github.com/Stedag/qr_card https://github.com/Stedag/qr_card which generated them and I just cut a out a couple sheets of card stock. My favorite part is that I could set the note for my contact in their phone to be specific to the event while not being sneaky: "NOTE: Met at robotics summit 2024 :)"
tomwheeler 2y ago
When I applied for a business visa for India earlier this year, I had to submit a business card as part of the application process. Since my company doesn't issue them, I created one of my own. I even printed it in case an immigration officer wanted to see it when I arrived there.
getlawgdon 2y ago
Yes. Go to any conference or trade show or people-convergent event, nearly just about anywhere, particularly one that is even just vaguely not "tech" since, like, Bay Area bubblism seems to be the exception, and you'll find cards being traded like...trade show business cards.
dewey 2y ago
I thought they were dead too, then went to some networking events that are not just people in tech and realized I’m the only one without.
bityard 2y ago
Sure. I would go so far as to say if you consider yourself a professional in your field and don't have a business card, you are probably missing out on networking opportunities. (Not because you don't have a business card, but because you aren't exposing yourself to situations where people would ask for one.)
singpolyma3 2y ago
After accruing a big bag of them which I honestly never looked at again, I stopped. Accepting one from someone is considered polite in some circles, but ultimately meaningless

Do people stil do business cards?

LikeAnElephant 2y ago

Yep, I do. It's a baseline expectation in my experience when working within less technical industries.

throwadobe 2y ago
within any industry, really, even technical ones... "Tech" seems to be the exception.

bicx 2y ago

Honestly, if you’re in a job where you meet potential connections in person, it’s a lot easier to give someone a card with your info rather than to tell them how to find you on the internet and hope they remember.

onionisafruit 2y ago
I was at gophercon last month, and I vowed to get calling cards before next year. Getting out your phone and typing contact info is awkward by itself. Add in my hearing loss and it gets even worse.

iancmceachern 2y ago

Yes, in some circles it's weird to use them, but in my experience those circles are the weird thing. Those circles are usually software folks and startup folks in places like the SF bay area, etc. In those situations everyone trades linkedin profiles or adds eachother to contacts as we are standing meeting eachother. That leads to very weird social interactions which are the norm in these circles but are definitely not normal social behavior in the broader world. In the broader world, everyone has a card. It would be weird if you were giving a police report and the deputy told you his linkedin profile address, or whatever. Same for your plumber, business card make sense and a aren't going away.

derefr 2y ago
But, whether in a personal or a business context, I don't do... either of these things? Mostly, if I'm meeting someone for the first time in person, then it's either through friends, or at an event. If it's through friends, I just... meet them. No "connect." We have a conversation. We say goodbye. If I want to reach out to them later, I ask the friend I met them through to reach out for me. Simple and 100% effective. If it's at an event, I might ask for, say, their Twitter handle. (Or, if they're an artist, their Instagram handle; or if they're a maker, their Etsy store; etc.) But I won't interrupt the conversation to write it down, let alone add them right then and there. I'll just remember the handle, and if I really care, I'll write it down after the end of the conversation. Or, if I care slightly less, I'll forget it (or not bother to ask for it) and then if I decide I care later, I'll google their name + the name of the city we were in (or the city they're from) + their occupation and/or company they said they worked for. ...and outside of those two contexts, then I'm likely not meeting the person for the first time in person, so I don't want/need a card. My plumber? They're already in my house. I presumably called them. I know who they are. I found them online, probably. "Their card" is their website/Facebook page/etc. A deputy at a police station? I don't even need to know their name. They're a public servant with a uniquely role in their department. I'm guaranteed to be able to look them up at any time by role on the police department's website, and/or call the police department's non-emergency number and ask for them by role.
- iancmceachern 2y ago
  The first situation doesn't apply, I don't generally give my business card out in personL situations either, and let relationships organically happen as they do. That's not this. Thanks for the second example, it gets right to my point. Yes, in San Francisco if you ask the average professional for their Twitter handle that may be a way to contact them, etc. In much of the broader world its weird to assume people have one (I don't). It's weird to assume that that would be the way to contact them. Most of the world still uses email, phone and whatsapp/etc replacements for such to communicate. If I'm meeting someone for business purposes I want to know their business name, address, phone number and email. I don't want to know their recent tweets, etc. I just want to know what number to call when I want that service.

Brajeshwar 2y ago

Not necessarily but here is how I do (I'm in the technical industry). I will try to initiate the iOS Bump thingy > if not goes to a backup tool called HiHello[1] (universal) > then the business card. Of course, if I'm in the company of either Japanese or if I see people handing out printed business cards, I have my super well-done minimal but still beautiful paper business card. The paper ones lasts a very long time (years) these days. 1. I stumbled on HiHello (I think on HackerNews) and I can use this by just swiping the home screen for the widget and don't have to ever open the App. https://www.hihello.com https://www.hihello.com

Stedag 2y ago

For conferences and trade-shows where there is an expectation to network. My company gives us conventional cards with little qr code v-cards. I only needed a handful of cards for a recent event as I'm not one of the sales engineers. When I realized I wouldn't have any in time if I requested them, I saw it as an opportunity to understand the v-card format and qr codes and write https://github.com/Stedag/qr_card https://github.com/Stedag/qr_card which generated them and I just cut a out a couple sheets of card stock. My favorite part is that I could set the note for my contact in their phone to be specific to the event while not being sneaky: "NOTE: Met at robotics summit 2024 :)"

tomwheeler 2y ago

When I applied for a business visa for India earlier this year, I had to submit a business card as part of the application process. Since my company doesn't issue them, I created one of my own. I even printed it in case an immigration officer wanted to see it when I arrived there.

getlawgdon 2y ago

Yes. Go to any conference or trade show or people-convergent event, nearly just about anywhere, particularly one that is even just vaguely not "tech" since, like, Bay Area bubblism seems to be the exception, and you'll find cards being traded like...trade show business cards.

dewey 2y ago

I thought they were dead too, then went to some networking events that are not just people in tech and realized I’m the only one without.

bityard 2y ago

Sure. I would go so far as to say if you consider yourself a professional in your field and don't have a business card, you are probably missing out on networking opportunities. (Not because you don't have a business card, but because you aren't exposing yourself to situations where people would ask for one.)

singpolyma3 2y ago

After accruing a big bag of them which I honestly never looked at again, I stopped. Accepting one from someone is considered polite in some circles, but ultimately meaningless