Happy 2026! To start off the year, something new! My first review of an industry mixer, hosted by Momocon and Mercer + Friends at Rock Steady. A few colleagues and I heard about it through Momocon’s Instagram and decided to check it out!
Since this would be Momocon’s first ever industry mixer, I didn’t know what to expect. RSVPs were done through posh.vip and the guest list boosted at least 700 names! The venue, Rock Steady, is a local restaurant on the west side of midtown, and… I was a little apprehensive going in on how they would handle such a crowd, ha ha!
Turns out, it would be very crowded! We had arrived just around the start time 8 PM, I was worried we’d be dorkishly early, but the floor was already pretty full when we walked in. Checking in with the host with our posh.vip QR codes got us a drink ticket and a Mercer + Friends enamel pin.
Eager to use my drink ticket, I suggested to our group we commandeer one of the tables and hopefully get the attention of one of the waiters. The bar itself had proven too busy for me to flag down a bartender ^^;; This also allowed us to save seats for other colleagues we were waiting for.
Our tables became our sanctuary as the event grew even more crowded. While Rock Steady has a classy atmosphere and menu, befitting of a great date spot, I think overall it was not a good choice for an industry mixer. There were so many people in the small open space of the dining room that everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder, leaving very little opportunity to mingle outside established groups. The music was also very loud, which made conversing extremely difficult, even at our booth we had to lean in and yell at each other.
Our waitress told us that to use our drink tickets for mocktails we’d have to order at the bar. So we did have to brave the crowd a few more times! I got a Guava Island, a delicious fruit punch mixed from Caribbean juices.
A few of us ordered food, and from what I nibbled off my friends’ I’d definitely love to come back to Rock Steady when I wasn’t already full from meal prep dinner. Their collards were some of the best I’ve tasted, with a nice smoky taste. Their meals had come out quickly, but I got the sense that the back of house was overwhelmed. It really brought attention to the absence of an attendance cap.
Through people watching, we got the sense that most in attendance were young adults, perhaps students and recent grads. Our friend, Jules Premus, a KSU professor, introduced us to a few of his past students, which was pretty cool!
We also spotted some cosplayers, one person even came in with a full face of Joker makeup. I can understand how Momocon as a host may draw in cosplayers… and to be fair they did include influencers in their list of wanted attendees: talent, creatives, influencers, tastemakers, professionals, entrepreneurs. I think the mixed crowd and choice of venue made more for a party hang out vibe than a professional industry networking event.
I did a little research for this blog review, and it looks like Mercer + Friends may be part of Mercer + Prince, a whiskey brand created by musician, A$AP Rocky. While this may have been Momocon’s first ever mixer, it looks like both Rock Steady and Mercer + Prince put together these mixers with other hosts with some regularity. I was found a couple from last year, one hosted by Miss Madeline Faye, and one by Minorities in Sports Business.
Learning that both Mercer + Friends and Rock Steady have experience hosting these mixers… has me a little baffled. I’d made the assumption that Momocon was the main organizer, they did name themselves as host, and I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with my critiques. Now the loud music and absence of an attendance cap are very odd to me. I can understand that for Rock Steady’s regular service, the music volume is part of crafting their fine dining atmosphere. However, this was purportedly an industry mixer on a Wednesday night, where conversation would be a key part of networking.
I’ll have to admit I am more of an introvert, so these extrovert type industry opportunities are less my scene. I’m glad to have checked it out, I know Momocon has hosted career fairs in the past so I wanted to see if this was a progression of that goal. Plus, I got to see my friends on a weekday night, and learn about a cool restaurant. As a mixer, it just really wasn’t for me.
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