It used to be that if young professionals wanted to socialize, they’d get together for drinks. Or lunch.
But on Thursday, young professionals from the midcoast will get together to do a little fencing. Maybe a little bowling or tennis too.
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And folks won’t even have to take off their neckties or muss up their hair (much) to do it.
A young professionals group, Mid Coast Edge, is holding its first Wii Game Tournament at Frontier in Brunswick.
Frontier is a restaurant, so there will be drinks and food for people who need those ingredients for mingling and networking.
But there will also be the Wii tournament — which is free — to help people take the focus off just asking each other what they do.
“We’ve been trying to do some things that are sort of casual networking. Our members were looking for some sort of event, something appealing to our demographic,” said Amanda Leland, 29, chairperson of Mid Coast Edge, which is affiliated with the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.
So who can show up to play Wii and meet enterprising young folks? The group’s website says it’s open to young professionals ages 21 to 39 and their families, who live in the area stretching roughly from Brunswick to Edgecomb.
“We’re not going to turn away someone in their early 40s with a good attitude,” said Leland, who is operations manager for Long Cove Builders in Harpswell.
The Wii tournament will consist of brackets, with people competing against each other in a given competition before moving on to the next.
The winner will get tickets to a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game.
The idea for a Wii tournament came from members, who suggested things they thought would be fun. They’ve done actual bowling as an event as well.
But the advantage of a Wii tournament is that not everyone has to participate. If you have a networking or social event at a bowling alley, it’s pretty much assumed everyone will have to bowl.
“If some people are a little shy, they don’t have to get involved,” said Leland.
But if people aren’t shy — well, anyone who has boxed, fenced or danced using a Wii system will tell you that you can get just as sweaty as doing it for real. The difference with playing Wii is that you can adjust levels if it gets too hard.
And in business, as in life, a good professional has to know when to make adjustments.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at rrouthier@pressherald.com
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