My local Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a multi-Chamber mixer at the local newspaper in our community. I love these events because I get to connect with business owners from neighboring communities that I don’t see on a regular basis. That’s a good thing.
The bad thing was who I will call “networking guy”. He was wearing a cowboy hat (not the norm in my suburban Chicago community!) and attached to that hat was a flashing neon “Let Me Tell You” badge. I know, you think I am kidding, but I am not.
I don’t like to judge, but this guy has it all wrong. I don’t want to be “told” anything, and I sure as hell do not want to be told by a guy wearing a cowboy hat with a flashing neon light on it. He was engaging in many short, meet and greet type conversations, but what really ticked me off was that while he was talking to one person, he was not making eye contact, but looking around for the next person to talk you.
Have you all met someone like this? Probably. Do we avoid people like this when we can? Probably. Can we be different than this guy? For sure!
Here’s what I try to do at these events. The new members of the Chamber are given a different color name badge to wear when they come to these things. I seek out those new members, strike up a conversation to learn a little bit more about their business and then I ask them simple question, “What type of business or business person would be a good connection for you?” Now, because I know almost all 900 members of our local chamber, I can, at that point, probably walk them over to someone that meets the criteria they just told me, and make an introduction, “Joe meet Mary, Mary meet Joe. Mary said that knowing you might help her in her business, why don’t the two of you get to know each other a little better.” Did I get anything out of it directly? No, probably not. Did I make a great impression on Mary and Joe? For sure. The next time Mary or Joe need my services, will they be more likely to think of me? For sure. More importantly, does Mary feel better about her decision to join the Chamber? For sure. Was Joe reminded about the advantages the Chamber has for him? For sure. Most of all, I feel great about connecting two people who did not know each other previously. That’s part of what networking is for me.
So, the next time you are at a “networking” event, try and connect two people in your network. The payoff will not be immediate, but it sure will feel good.
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