Kampala — NETWORKING is such a veiled word it could mean anything. So when The New Vision and co-sponsors MTN invited both the local and foreign CHOGM press, for 'networking' on Friday, no one knew what to expect.

Once inside the giant beautifully decorated marquees atLugogo Game parking lot, and it was clear that networking was more than just sharing experience, expertise and skills with foreign journalists. Neither was it merely showcasing the potential of Uganda's bustling media industry to the foreign journalists.

Networking, as it turned out on that evening, was an opportunity among the media fraternity for leisurely seduction disguised in dinner and dance form. That atom-splitting journalists turned mellow under tight embraces, and that a male journalist with Al-Jazeera swore to resign his job and set base in Uganda, after a paka chini with a local female journalist told the story.

Coffee beans in the Ugandan tradition celebrate brotherhood. However, roasted coffee beans strewn on the tables were more than just a sign of brotherhood - they spelt virility.

Once Emcee Gaetano told the foreign guests the secret behind roasted coffee beans, we knew the party was headed for the right direction. The male journalists made it show on the dance floor.

The New Vision CEO, Robert Kabushenga, fanned the already raging fire. "Drink to your fill, get thoroughly drunk. It doesn't matter whether you wake up tomorrow with prize-winning hangovers. Enjoy with no inhibitions for you deserve this special treat," he had said. Journalists obliged to the dot - both foreign and local journalists initiated mutually advantageous new relationships, which could bear fruit nine months from now.

The party could not have had any worthier sponsors. "The New vision felt obliged, as the biggest media house, to host a party for a job well-done by different media houses during CHOGM. That MTN partnered with us is a Godsend. We contacted them at the last minute, but they took the decision to co-sponsor in just less than five minutes. MTN truly values the media. We will forever be grateful," Kabushenga said.

He promised to tell us what Super FM's Peter Ssematimba did when he met the Queen earlier in the day. But Ssematimba pleaded to not to spill the beans.

For the record performances were from the ladies. "Why?" you may ask. But imagine the erotic gyrations of the female Infinity dancer, throw in the curvaceous Obsessions girls, the provocative Blu* 3 and the sultry Julianna, not forgetting the roasted coffee beans - and you knew organisers were out to 'torture' male journalists .

Long before Julianna Kanyomozi had performed, Kabushenga had predicted that by the time she finished singing, all men would be pocketing. He almost guessed right. Many foreign male journalists inadvertently pocketed, without as much as knowing who she was!

That the foreign guests walked off with beautiful sculptures that had earlier decorated the tables, was an innovative way to showcase Uganda.