Are early-risers better networkers?

Yesterday, I was talking with a client about a networking event she didn't want to attend because it's at 7 AM.

Of course, I can't force her to get up early and go, but I pointed out that, from my experience, the people one meets at a breakfast event at 7 AM are quite different from the people one meets at a cocktail hour at 6 PM. I find early-risers to be more productive, more ambitious and sometimes even more valuable networking buddies.

What do you think?

Comments

[Carolyn Hansen]

Absolutely yes, early risers are more productive! (Note that I'm commenting at 7:20 Pacific Time.) But I'm a little too introverted to call myself a better networker than anyone else. I wonder if comments on this post will get more negative as the day goes on . . .

- Carolyn Hansen
www.hackergroup.com

[Jezra Kaye, Communicate with Power and Ease]

Well, I'm the lazy scofflaw with didn't want to get up at 5:30AM to meet with a bunch of strangers (at least not while my daughter is home on college break and we're watching videos 'till 2AM).

It may be true that you early birds are more ambitious, but I'll bet we night birds are more creative!

OK, gauntlet thrown down. Ilise, you may have started a new culture war here... :-)

[Nora]

I don't think it matters all that much, really... I thought the whole "early bird gets the worm" thing was debunked recently in the press, actually?

At any rate, it would be interesting to attend a networking event at 7am these days, as it's still dark outside at that hour. :/

[Dani Nordin]

Actually, I think it all depends on how you work. I found the few morning events I got to quite unproductive, actually (especially BNI) - decent energy, but the time it takes to actually get ready and head down to a 7am networking event would literally have me up sometime around 5am, and that just didn't work for me.

And since so much of my work is with entrepreneurs (literally 80% of my business at this point, and I'm happy with that), the folks I found at the morning meetings were mostly folks that were in the area anyway, which in Boston means mostly corporate types and folks in the financial industry.

I think that, in general, the first year of attending events is really an evaluation period to find out what types of events work for you - try a bit of each of them, and stick with the ones where you enjoy meeting the people there, you feel focused and confident, and you get out of them what you intend to. For me, it's lunch/dinner events where you actually sit down and talk to people, and where there's a good mix of people but it's not an enormous crowd. Cocktail events don't work for me, and I despise crowded events. Others might find that a different mix works for them. That's the beauty of so many options - you can pick and choose the mix that works.

[Nicole Bandes]

I try to attend both morning events and evening events as often as I can. I must say that my most productive events are the evening ones.

My goal is not to go in there and SELL SELL SELL which is what I feel the morning events tend to focus on. Where as the evening events seem to be more about building relationships. Through those relationships, I have gotten far more referrals than through the SELLing approach of the morning meetings.

This does exclude my BNI group, though, because we have all built those relationships outside of the group.

[Jezra Kaye, Communicate with Power and Ease]

I appreciate everyone's thoughtful replies on this topic. I can see that part of the fun (and challenge) will be striking a balance between trying new things and being clear about what works best for me (whether or not any worms are caught!) :-)

[Jasmine Holmes]

I have only been to evening networking events but have not found them terribly productive. I think I may try a morning event and see if that is more to my liking. I agree with many of the other comments that the preference for time of day seems to be linked to your personality. It seems that when you are at your best energy (morning or evening) you will be at your networking best!

[Kristin Maija Peterson]

Good topic — coming from strong work ethic roots, I feel guitly about not wanting to attend those 7AM networking events. But I know by now my morning energy is better focused on planning the day, getting e-mail and invoices taken care of verses talking to people. One of the keys to good networking is to be upbeat and interested in what the other person has to say which is why I find the lunch/dinner gatherings are so much more productive and fun. By the way, I have to plead ignorant, could one of you tell me what BNI group means?

[Kristin Maija Peterson]

Good topic — coming from strong work ethic roots, I feel guitly about not wanting to attend those 7AM networking events. But I know by now my morning energy is better focused on planning the day, getting e-mail and invoices taken care of verses talking to people. One of the keys to good networking is to be upbeat and interested in what the other person has to say which is why I find the lunch/dinner gatherings are so much more productive and fun. By the way, I have to plead ignorant, could one of you tell me what BNI group means?

[Lisa Neal]

I think there is a big difference between people who wake up early and those who don't - the former tend to be happier and more energetic people. I never thought about it like that but I agree with you that going to early events sense if these are the people you want to meet. Thank you for your insight.

Lisa Neal, lisaneal.wordpress.com

[Laura]

BNI - Business Networking International. I'd kind of agree w/ the last comment, but you can still meet outgoing people at evening events. And sometimes, the early morning people might be those whom you despise - too damn chipper at 7 a.m. for you to even want to carry on a conversation. The same can be for people in the evening (or too out of it after drinks), but at least you're won't be out of it from not having enough coffee. In my case, I'd remember them better in the evenings, too.

[Gina Bruce]

I'm with you Ilise.

I thought that once my daughter went to college I'd never have to get up before 7 again. But someone convinced me to join BNI a few months ago and I love it. The group is great. We're all learning from each other and it gets me energized for the day.

I've gotten work from the referrals already and I'm learning to be braver about self promotion. I totally recommend it.

[Paula]

I've found great contacts at both early and late events, although I definitely have a hard time getting to the early ones! I find it's more a matter of feeling comfortable with the people at any event. However, since I noticed that most of the responses have come from women, I'd like to add another wrinkle to the discussion: Do you find it more valuable to attend "women only" networking events (e.g. alumnae groups, women in business groups)? I'm not sexist, believe me. I just often find it easier to start a networking conversation with a woman I don't know than with a man. Any thoughts?

[Sonia Simone]

As a genetic night owl, I've always found it maddening that so many people ascribe better business acumen, energy, productivity, ambition, etc. to early risers.

Especially in the new social media world, there are creative, sharp, talented and yes, productive and ambitious people whose best hours come at all different points of the day.

I really am not sharp or focused enough to have a smart business conversation that early in the morning, but for a great event I'd give it a shot.

For the most part, my mornings belong to my two-year-old, though, and I very rarely give that time to anyone else.