Amongst many Friday evenings, I question how I spend my time. There are many options or there could be none. Though I thought exploring the Benson area of Omaha would be great opportunity to learn about the art and culture the pervades Omaha’s artsier scenes. Being deep within an art scene, it would also be interesting to see how the community catered to the more technical know how of it’s visitors.
During a walk around this hip and somewhat secluded area of Omaha is a few blocks of shops, bars, and event venues appealing to artistic tastes of it’s visitors. I am left without a exhaustive plan and take the opportunity to examine the night’s activities without any preconceptions of how it would go.
The most noticeable appeal to what I was searching for was a seemingly small restaurant, plastered with artwork on the walls. There was a sense of community there that did not seem dependent on promotion or advertising. Like most social environments for individuals that already new each other, it appeared friendly enough to ask about what were the local happenings in the area. Though, ignoring the urge for the sake of noticing the restaurants true value I looked on…I felt obligated to just become part of the atmosphere.
Being a novice in the art world, though an intermediate in sales, I sometimes wonder how a business is able to perform so well with just a close knit group of individuals that seemingly already knew each other. Arguably, one can say that a community built this as another form of networking. Also, the notion that meeting someone for networking purposes seemed right at such a place, though I failed to take the initiative. There was something about the environment that I did not want to disturb or invade, I merely observed.
Late into the night I meant individuals like myself, one who said he worked at the Apple Store, another an mentioned he was a “Web Dev”. The modesty was outstanding, who would of thought on a Friday night in such artful area of town that I would meet people that were also into technology. There were so kind to invite me for a slice of Pizza at a local restaurant called “Baxters”. Preview their excellent food at baxtersbenson.com, also in the Benson area. As chances of this happening being slim, it makes a lot sense considering having a creative mind is good for finding unique ways to solving problems in technology.
Being on opposite ends of the spectrum of work, art and science, the two somehow meshed well together with the result of my evenings observations. Overall, Omaha does indeed have a lot to offer the young professional. To escape into atmosphere of Benson was example of this, and made obvious with the people I meant and the activities I got involve in.
