More Notes from a Networker

I jumped into the Darwinian mosh-pit of networking again last week. It’s pretty wild out there!

NYSIA: New York Software Industry Association

I’ve mentioned them before -- I finally got to a monthly meeting. The amenities were sparse -- no food or drink -- but it was free after all. It was a panel discussion, so there was just time before and after to chat. With my usual luck I sat near a job hunter, so got nowhere. However, the panel was quite interesting -- about new cell phone software -- and occasionally quite funny, so at least I was entertained.

SWINY Science Writers in NY

A writer I know has been getting my e-news, and asked me to consider speaking to her group. So I went to their winter party to check them out ($30., some nice wines). They were science journalists rather than marketing writers -- apparently there is a big gap between the two tribes. But I did get to poll people on their feelings about a current client, who publishes scientific journals. I eventually decided they weren’t a good fit for me as audience, but may be good for Ilise -- so I made the referral. One of the advantages of networking is that occasionally I have something of value -- information.

C Squared

Another group I’ve been eyeballing. I went to their charity sector event -- and it was odd. It was sort of a mix of singles bar and business networking, which to me is a queasy combination. There were a lot of people chasing very few prospects. I did talk to a person looking to serve on a board, so I gave some suggestions on ways to research organizations. Other people I’ve talked to who have attended C Squared say that some events have been great --they just can’t say which ones.

Note that even though these events were (kinda) duds, I still had some business cards to follow up with.

One of my goals this year is to do presentations -- so last week I got to do one at an association of non profits in Connecticut. I team up with Howard, a direct competitor, to do these events -- it works out because on our own, neither of us would do these -- it is a ton of work. The audience was a rather glum bunch -- but hell, if I were in their shoes, I’d be glum too! I did get me thinking about expanding seriously into other sectors.

This week among other gigs I went to the NYSIA Sales and Marketing SIG (special interest group), which I have attended on and off for a while now. This was my second early morning meeting this week and I did not want to go -- but after struggling to stay awake during the presentation, I was waved over afterward by the SIG leader -- he gets (and reads!) my e-news. He asked if I wanted to be on a panel discussing marketing at a future meeting -- so you never know…

Anyone else have networking experiences to share? Productive or just peculiar?

Comments

[Edward G.]

Any non-dud networking experiences to report?

[Peter Levinson]

Edward,
one of the points I've made is that an event may be a dud for me, but not for someone else. It really depends on your business, sector you sell to, etc. In any case my dud events were (mostly) productive in unexpected ways. What about your networking experiences?