Welcome to this week's issue of Executive Insight.  

 

Thanks for your emails last week in response to the saga of my subway Samaritan. It was a heartwarming episode that made everyone feel good!

Networking Musings

I attended three networking events this week sponsored by organizations or people that I didn't know previously. It's fascinating to walk into a room and assess the crowd. Going to these events reminded me that not only do first impressions count when you're meeting a person one-on-one, but they also mean something when you size up a room.

The first event had a digital media theme. The sponsor had taken over a restaurant/bar for the evening, complete with dim lighting and awful music. I quickly determined that this was a social event disguised as networking.

The most remarkable thing occurred when one of the organizers interrupted a conversation I was engaged in to tell us that we needed to circulate. Although I was a little taken aback by this intrusion, it reassured me that I wouldn't miss much if I left.

The second was a first-time breakfast meeting of about a dozen small business owners. No clear focus emerged, and the organizer's perspective was that we should get together once a month and go around the table and introduce ourselves. Next.....

The third event had a health theme, and was set up with about ten exhibitors around the perimeter of the room. The room felt open and light, and there was enough room for people to move around without crushing each other. (And people circulated without being herded!) Here I reconnected with a handful of people I knew from various profession incarnations, including some I hadn't seen in years.

Networking has a purpose, and it's best to go to events with specific goals in mind. Bottom line: networking for the sake of networking isn't productive. If you decide that a particular group isn't for you, then so be it. It's likely that I'll attend a future event organized by the third sponsor, but (for me) to invest more in the first two would be unproductive.

Trust your instincts, and honor your time by not wasting it!

 

Copyright 2010 Lisa M. Aldisert

 

 

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Quote of the Day 
"If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint."
          - Edward Hopper 

 

 

On this Day in History
In 1894, Comte Jules-Albert de Dion won the first ever motorized racing event held between Paris and Rouen.