OC’s Largest Mixer

Went here with a friend and absolutely enjoyed myself.
It’s full of small (and some larger) business owners and lots of free stuff. I relapsed into my ‘crazy bag lady’ addiction and came out with a tote full of good loot: D
It’s a great event to see who and what’s out there, as well as showcase yourself and your business. A huge opportunity to find potential clients and gain a lot of contacts.
I got to speak with alot of great people and found several services that I need that I couldn’t find in LA. I guess I’m going to be spending a lot of time in the area now since a lot of vouchers I received are located in the OC areas. It was a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
I think some of my favorite parts of this mixer was the food, dancing to some of a DJ’S sample music and a voucher for a free 2 night stay in Vegas ;) Ivy scored!!!

O.C.‘s Largest mixer was a really great time for me for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, I feel like i got myself out of my comfort zone (by attending alone.) I also enjoyed being able to be the one sitting back and listening. I was prepared for a bunch of sellers to be selling to me. :) It actually made me feel more comfortable to be walking alone. I never really felt bombarded. I met a lot of really nice, smart, excited people. I met Ryan from Unilocal who was very informative and friendly. People answered my questions and it was a collaborative night. Definitely worth attending if you are a people person and like conversing.

The name is a little misleading. It’s more like a big expo than a mixer. Imagine a convention floor with booths and booth of businesses giving out swag and telling peeps about what they do. There were a lot of businesses to visit! It were actually two hangars to visit and each hangar was packed with business stations.
Great for getting your name out there, connecting with other business and getting quotes on services/​products. By the end of it, I had a hefty tote bag with publications/​flyers/​price guides/​etc. and a bunch of cool little vouchers from the restaurants and catering companies.
Parking was plentiful when I arrived so it wasn’t any issue. Clear indications and signs on the road to guide you into the proper section of the lot for parking.
Some of the businesses involved in the food industry gave out samples while others did games or raffles in exchange for your business card.
Overall, a good event if you’re going to make connections and see what other companies are out there. I’d come back next year.

This was my first time at this event but I was pleased to see that it was their 10^th Anniversary mixer in Orange County. The site was easy enough to find since it was held at the all-​familiar OC Event Center. Parking was ample and quick with the attendants collecting the $ 5 fee and directing to appropriate places. Large balloons definitely showed the way to the check-​in, another easy process.
We got in without a hitch and were handed large tote bags full of informational goodies including a directory and map of the event which took up two hangars. Because we weren’t there for sniping out particular companies, we neglected to look at the map (except for checking out where Unilocal was located) and just proceeded inside to go in whichever direction we wanted. So much hubbub!
Plenty of businesses inside were doing giveaways in exchange for business cards. Nothing wrong with that — it’s a great tactic to collecting email addresses after all. I entered a few that seemed tempting. There were also lots of freebies and information to be collected. I noticed a huge presence of Chambers of Commerce; just about every OC one seemed represented there. That was fine and dandy in general but a bit targeted.
It was definitely very expo-​like (what more do you expect of the «Largest Mixer»?) with just a bit of food vendors inside giving out samples. Most people were very friendly, and it looks like a good place for budding businesses to show off their wares. I enjoyed myself there by meeting everyone though I’m hesitant to think that they remembered everyone! It was also a little strange because as friendly as many were, the business of the event was for both the vendors and the attendees to «sell» themselves to each other. Talk about mental pressure to make that sale! Luckily for me, I was just there to say hi =].
I’d definitely come back again to see what other types of exhibitors will be there in following years.