Fa la la la la, la la la la

With the dusk of 2011 fading and the dawn of 2012 approaching, ‘tis the season of holiday cheer, ugly sweater parties and new beginnings.

Now out of college and in the “real world,” I realize that Thanksgiving to New Year’s is no longer the time of “finals” and complete immune system shut down. On the contrary, college kids wind down while “real world” (apparently) revs up.

Business holiday parties and networking events are at an all time annual high. In business, everyone wants to celebrate a job well done. (Or, if it has been a job badly done, they toast to hoping next year improves.) For young New Yorkers, this endless mire of socializing equates to opportunity. If—with regards to your career—you are like me, you are: happy where you are and you can see into the near future, but farther down the road the picture gets blurry. If you are not like me, you are: unhappy with your job slash career and you too can benefit from this advice.

Network. Talk to everyone you can. This past week I attended New York Women in Communications Cocktail and Conversations event. The event focused on “What Women Want,” marketing for women by women. True, the conversation was interesting and I did learn a lot. But, prior to the organized panel discussion I met two women during the mingling set of the evening.

As it turns out, one woman is working on a book with a main character named Ruthie. Excitement. This spring I’ll get to read a book about a love triangle, and a girl with my name is the lead! More importantly, from our chat we discovered that the author’s real-life daughter is a client of mine! We arranged to all grab drinks together. Through a simple five-minute conversation, I made a valuable connection that will allow me to better my work for my client. (If nothing else, I have a good recommendation for some fun reading.)

After the panel discussion, I approached Lesley Jane Seymour, Editor in Chief of More magazine. She is an impressive woman to say the least. I was thrilled just to have the opportunity to talk to a woman with her many accomplishments.

The majority of that room of attendees left as soon as the raffle prizes were gone and they were empty-handed. However, I introduced myself to Ms. Seymour. I happen to be a fan of More, so I delved into a conversation about the magazine. More technically used to be a magazine targeted to women in their 40s. But now, Ms. Seymour has pushed it in a more ageless direction. “You can be smart at any age,” she told me. Amen, Lesley. Amen.

Who knows if I’ll bump into Lesley Jane Seymour again. But who says that I won’t? If I do, I’ll have an anecdote to tell her about “when we met.” The more cards you have in your deck, the more you can play.

For this reason, welcome any advice thrown your way.

A couple of weeks ago, I worked an event called Artwalk—an art auction for the Coalition for the Homeless. NBC reporter Lauren Scala happened to be there. True to what I said before, I believe in marching up to people and making introductions. So I did.

We spoke about journalism, reporting, the media business in general. Her advice, “Find your niche.” Find an expertise and then hone your craft. But even more importantly, Lauren urged me to “Just do it.” The key is not to psyche yourself out wondering if you can handle it. Just try. Dive in. And with every leap, you will improve.

Which brings me to the final leap you should make this holiday season. End-of-the-year networking events are useful, but company holiday parties are more fun. What remains left out of the quintessential morning-after report is the usefulness of these types of schindigs, as well.

Company holiday parties are the one time of year you get to kick back and relax around the co-workers you see scampering around the office like busy bees day in and day out. The office party is a chance to meet people in your office, but outside of your department. Essentially, take this moment to expand your social network.

If you like the people you work with, chances are you will enjoy work. After all, you spend more time at the office than most other places. Moreover, the friendlier you are the more likely people are to help you on your projects. Why not make the effort to meet new people in the hopes that the holiday cheer will spread into friendship and altruism throughout your calendar year?

My office holiday party this past week took place at Bowlmor. A few of my work friends and I put together a team and put on our game face. We were ready to win.

While we already knew each other, we did meet the teams next door. We had a total blast throwing gutter balls, random strikes, and eventually dominating all of the other teams. (Free winners’ lunch in this corner.)

When the lanes shut down and the animated bowling pins stopped dancing on our scoreboards, we shuttled out to the bar for some extended partying. We had an awesome time chatting and bonding about non-work things. Imagine that! Non-work things with work people. My friends, it can happen.

And then, the music got really good. Dancing with your co-workers is a recipe for instant friendship. It says, “Hey! I’m letting loose and getting goofy around you. I trust you to keep this a secret. And I only trust people who I call friends.”

So grab a co-worker and chat about last night’s episode of How I Met Your Mother, or start grooving to Chris Brown. The next day, you have an automatic reason to smile and laugh with each other about the awesome night you had at the holiday party. From there, no reason not to be friendly around the office all the time.

Make a resolution this season to use your slight buzz to loosen up and make new friends.

And while you’re at it, make a second resolution to "dive in.”

I have been wanting to start a blog for months. It took the push of a mentor of mine to actually start writing. In his words, much like Lauren Scala’s, “Go for it.” I could have easily waited until the official New Year or some other arbitrary holiday. But why wait? I decided to dive in and start my new year in November.

You do not have to wait for January 1 to make the change in your life you want to make. A new year can start whenever you choose.