Sad Business Card is Sad

Lately I've been updating my professional contacts and sites like LinkedIn and refreshing my resume, getting back in touch with colleagues, becoming active in professional discussions again, that kind of thing- you know, the stuff you do when you require income. I'm not printing my resume out. I've not had a need for it yet at all, and when I think about it, I haven't needed one for the past 2 jobs I've had, and that covers more than a decade easily. So then the question surfaced for me:

Do I need a business card? 

In my last position, I had business cards, but that was because they were purchased for me. I honestly rarely gave them out. 

I don't own a Rolodex. I have an iPhone and manage my contacts through my email client. When someone gives me their card, I enter the information as quickly as possible into my contacts. I've recently started using CardMunch to capture the information in my phone quickly so I can ditch the paper.

The last time I needed information from someone, it was quicker to hand them my phone and have them enter their contact information, than to dig for a card, or try to find something to write down contact information on.

So then I read this article, talking about how perhaps we ought to stop using each other as pawns in a chess game and maybe treat each other like people. Stop just "networking" and build relationships. To me this is common sense, and one of the keys to success in life, but apparently it's not how everyone thinks. 

I started thinking about the connections that I have made at different professional events and conferences. Some of them have been lasting connections, and I don't think that a single one of those had a business card hand-off.

On a break at the HDI Annual Conference last year, I asked a fellow attendee for his card. He didn't have one. What he did have was a QR code on his phone that I was able to scan, which entered all of his contact information, including  his Twitter handle, into my contacts. I LOVED THIS!!!! I've not found an iOS app for free that will create a code, but once I decide which mobile OS I'm going with for the next few years, it will certainly be worth a purchase. This interaction did not take a lot longer than a business card exchange, but made a much stronger connection.

This certainly wouldn't work for those vendor drawings at the conferences, but really, are the coffee mug and pen worth the deluge of emails and sales calls you'll get for the next several years?

I've thought about perhaps a paper business card is still relevant, it's just time to change the information on it. And this may be true- QR codes, websites, social media profiles- business cards for many have become wallet-sized resumes. And I can totally see where there are professions in which leaving your card is absolutely the best thing to do.

But for networking and job-seeking, I think for now I'm going to stick with the apps on my phone. I'd like to find one that's as quick as possible to pull up and transfer, and that will not cause issues or confusion for the receivers of my information. For now it's going to be iOS, and free. I'm really on the fence about staying with iOS or going over to Android- I really, really, hate iTunes... More on that later. 

Sorry paper business cards.