Kevin Allison of the Financial Times, in true mafia fashion, arranged a meeting of the families last week. Bay Area spin doctors and media tycoons rumbled in San Francisco’s Mission District at the Elbo Room to kick off the first, "Everybody Needs a Mafia - West Coast Edition." The meet-up was organized to keep the peace in "furthering a mutual understanding between adversaries," Allison said in an email calling for the gathering. I was skeptical at first, as these meet-ups tend to be a feeding frenzy on the 1-2 media in a pool of PR sharks. I thought for sure I would be swimming with the fishes after the first hour. I was pleased to see that this event was a success and I made a great media contact through a casual encounter. I also got to catch up with some past PR colleagues while meeting other PR professionals.

Successful meet-ups like this can be great for networking. I encourage others to join the next mafia mixer as this one proved to be fun and resourceful. So Kevin, when’s the next meet-up? Let us all know so we don’t fugetaboudit.

–Josh Gershman