
An unexpected social trick I learned running out of business cards - matteoc
https://medium.com/@matteoc/an-unexpected-social-trick-i-learned-running-out-of-business-cards-at-the-worst-time-ca57272286db#.9b80cpmuj
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aggieben
Interesting and creative, but this guy is reading _waaaaay_ too much into what
cards people pick. My guess is that in reality, most people don't give a crap
because they're going to put the contact info into their phones and then throw
the card away.

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pascalmemories
Coming from Europe, I found it weird in North America that I get asked for
business cards all the time but it's been 15 years since I got asked for one
in Europe.

The US Border is bizarre, I get asked for a card when I cross almost all the
time - like it's some sort of equivalent of a passport that proves I'm really
on business. They had a sense of humor failure when I offer to email them one,
so I stopped doing that and just got some cards so I can give them, and
whoever else asks, one.

~~~
striking
Business cards are a big part of culture in some places. In Japan, it's "an
essential part of Japanese business ettiquette."[1] This is true to the degree
that a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to get a reaction
was invented. [2]

1: [http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-
card.htm](http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-card.htm)

2:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT2EjdnFU4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT2EjdnFU4)

~~~
resoluteteeth
> This is true to the degree that a show about a Japanese man who crushes
> business cards to get a reaction was invented.

This is not at all "a show about a Japanese man who crushes business cards to
get a reaction."

The clip you have linked is labelled as being from "Gigazeus" which is
apparently a comedy tokusatsu (like Power Rangers) show. Since I was confused
as to why there were other clips with the same person that didn't seem to be
from this show, I wasted some time researching this and determined the
following:

There was a series of dumb comedy tv shows that were supposed to be lessons in
how to make people angry. In these shows, this actor (Shinichi Usui) was
supposed to be a professor, who demonstrated how to make people angry by
disrespecting them. The person who directed these shows then went on to direct
the show the clip you have linked is from, and apparently brought on the same
actor to do essentially the same thing but as a different character.

This was simply a short gag on two different shows directed by the same person
that was more about the silly facial expression made by the actor than about
the actual destroying of the business cards.

I have taken the time to write a reply (to this comment that is arguably only
tangentially related to the original link) that is arguably unnecessarily
detailed because misinformation about Japan and Japanese TV shows seems to be
so prevalent on the internet. In particular, I want to dispel the idea that
the very idea of crushing business cards is somehow so shocking to Japanese
people (more than it would be in other countries) that there would be a
reality show just about someone crushing business cards.

~~~
striking
I stand corrected, and would edit my comment if I could. Thank you for
teaching me about Japanese culture. (although I'll reiterate that business
cards are still very important in that culture)

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egypturnash
I use the multi-image Moo cards, and have a bunch of them out on my table at
conventions. They're _great_. Usually taking a business card is a throwaway
thing. But when there's a bunch of different images to choose from, some
people will get involved in it, and pick an image that they really like.

Some people just grab the first one that comes to hand, sure. But some people
will spend a couple minutes looking at _every single design_ and picking the
one they like. Do you know how precious that is in the environment of a comic
book convention? Someone is engaged with my _promotional materials_ , in an
environment where _every square inch_ is filled with someone's promotional
materials.

~~~
aggieben
I can see the value of that when someone engages in the designs, but I think
the engaging thing there is the choice, not the designs themselves. I'd be
curious to know if you could create the same effect with cards that are
exactly the same, but simply with different background colors.

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rooodini
@giacecco does something similar, but as a freelance data scientist, each of
his business cards shows some graphic of a project he has worked on. He asks
people to pick a card, then he tells them about the project they chose. Works
really well

~~~
caseysoftware
Now _that_ makes sense and serves to anchor himself in their mind. So now when
I find his card days or weeks later, I'm more likely to remember him and what
he does. And that's the point. :)

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mxuribe
While i think this social trick is clever, there are circles or perhaps
industries where - as some other comments denote - recipients will not keep
the cards; opting to simply enter the info into their phones, etc. However, i
can definitely see in some other industries that are skewed more towards the
social - such as but not limited to real estate, etc. - where this would work
as a great ice breaker, or at least a method to keep some conversation
continuing. Either way, I think this idea is pretty cool especially for how
easy it is to do. Kudos to @matteoc!

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gjm11
I assume the author is greatly exaggerating how predictable people are.
Otherwise, I'd like to know what happens when he offers his cards to, say, an
LGBT programmer working in finance.

~~~
matteoc
That would expose his "dominant" passion and maybe also the mood of the moment
;-)

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oldmanjay
this feels about as charming as a stranger approaching with heavy insistence
to show a magic trick no one wants to see

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tudorw
I have cards... but rarely with me... if asked I just say, 'No, do you?' Then
take their card, if they don't have one we trade email addresses, I have a way
to contact them to follow up. I used to hand out a lot, but no one called,
then maybe that's just me...

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geophile
American Psycho jokes start in 3, 2, 1, ...

~~~
matteoc
In fact I did not mention my business card holder ;-)

