Here, too, we can learn from several hundred years of diplomacy: the first association that comes to most people’s minds when they hear the word „diplomat“ are the many receptions, concerts, exhibitions and other events. One always imagines the typical diplomat with a glass of champagne in conversation. What at first glance looks like unnecessary luxury and the decadent whims of a closed scene is actually a very sophisticated system of relationship building.
Tested for centuries and found to be good. Imagine living in a faraway country tomorrow (let’s take Azerbaijan, for example) and having four years from now to build really resilient relationships with about 150 relevant people there. Apart from all the modern means and methods of maintaining contact via e-mails and social networks, in the end you would still have no choice but to try to meet the same 150 people as often as possible, over and over again – talking, probably with a drink in your hand. Because nothing creates more trust and a sense of belonging than a personal meeting.
This is one of the reasons why musicians cannot do without live concerts if they want to maintain and intensify contact with their fans and thus their customers: The shared experience of a concert connects more than any other marketing means. So a good diplomat will first identify the multipliers important to him, then become a member of various clubs and associations himself (in order to gain easy personal access to his desired partners) and then purposefully establish contact with these people. In the further course of network building, he will invite these contacts as often as possible to events of all kinds (dinners, concerts, receptions, exhibitions, sporting events, national holidays, etc.) and talk to them personally there.
