#761: Apparently, Schmutzie's Schmoozy

I have been awarded the Power Of Schmooze Award by I Am The Diva, who said the nicest, schmoozy things about me. This award, which not only awards schmoozing but encourages it, originated over at Ordinary Folk and honours "...those bloggers who exhibit strong schmoozing skills." I Am The Diva is so good at this schmoozing, and I am such a sucker for it, that we are coming ever closer to consuming beer together. Are you up for it, Diva?

According to Dictionary.com, schmoozing is "to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection." There are less savoury versions, such as in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which defines schmoozing this way: "to talk informally with someone, especially in a way that is not sincere or to gain some advantage for yourself..." For the sake of accepting an award that I would prefer to think of as congratulatory, especially since I am going to hand it on to five other people whom I do not wish to insult, let's accept the first definition, pretend that this blogging thing is like floating around a cocktail party, and the following five individuals are the party-goers that have that special ability to walk up to anyone and be warm and engaging and memorable.

The participation rules:

If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs of people that you think are great schmoozers, conversationalists, or commentors.

Link to the original Power Of Schmooze Award post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

Optional: Proudly display the Power Of Schmooze Award badge with a link to the post in which you nominated others for the award.

Schmutzie's Schmoozey Five

1. Neil Kramer of Citizen Of The Month
2. Amy Fanning of Fannfare
3. Ozma of Hah!
4. Deb of Tired Mummy
5. Galena Alyson Canada of Thinking Aloud

Please do check out my schmoozey five. I don't write these posts for nothing.

Comments

[Neil]

Thank you! I view schmoozing as something that started out as a negative -- the guy who is the operator, trying to work his way up the ladder by fake social interaction -- which has metamorphized into a positive, almost a necessity in today's aggressive infomation-overload world. How could anyone get anything done in 2007 without some schmoozing? And even if a schmoozer is a little insincere at times, at least he is friendly and would never stab you in back. Three cheers for shmoozers, yourself included.

[ozma]

Only you Schmutzie would have the discernment and insight to recognize what a masterful schmoozer I am.

You blow me away every moment of every day.

[Galena Alyson Canada]

So OK my first reaction is "Oh shit, what did I do to deserve this?!" and my next thought is "she's punishing me for sending her too many drooly emails" but then I think "ya, but i am the diva sent it to Schmutzie first, and Schmutz wants to do a beer with her, so it can't be that bad" so I go look at i am the diva's place and "jayzuschristonnacrutch, she's already sent the damned thing to every decent blogger I know, now what am I supposed to do???" and then it dawns on me what a freekin' inbred community I've hooked into here, but then I think "well, maybe anyway we can all go do a beer together" and then I remember that I can't drink beer anymore. Shit. Now what am I supposed to do?

[RennyBA]

From one Schmoozey to another; Hi Schmutzie - all the way from Norway.

Thanks to Mark, I came to your blog and think you have a great one - keep up the good work!

[i am the diva]

beer Beer BEER!!! WOO!!! i'm so up for it. yay.
...now,...to find myself in your town......

[ali]

you are the queen of shmooze. congrats on your well-deserved award!