Good Morning!
I’ve spent a lot of time networking over the past two weeks.
This morning, I want to share some of my observations on how it’s been going.
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Redemption
In my last newsletter, I talked about some of the networking strategies I used at a conference in Las Vegas.
I shared what worked and what didn’t.
After that conference, I was questioning whether my ideas about networking at events were useful or not.
But, I had a chance to try my in-person networking strategies again this past week at a different event.
For those of you who don't know, I live in Denver, Colorado, work in HR, and am a bit of a troublemaker when it comes to my occupation.
Naturally, I planned to attend the most recent DisruptHR event.
This is an evening of great speakers where 12-14 people talk about disruptive HR topics. Each speaker gets only five minutes to present their topic. You get a lot of interesting insights in a short amount of time.
But it's not just about the speakers. There's a lot of networking that goes on as well.
After some of my networking fails in Las Vegas, I was determined try again at this event.
My plan was to wear my "Introverted But Willing to Network" t-shirt to grab people's attention and encourage them to talk to me.
I also made sure to bring my nametag with my LinkedIn QR code and a list of people I was hoping to meet.
I'm pleased to report that both of these techniques were much more successful at the DisruptHR event than they were in Las Vegas.
Getting Results
Several people approached me and asked me about the shirt, giving me an opportunity to break the ice and start a conversation. This was helpful for me as an introvert who struggles to initiate conversations.
I was also able to connect with them online right away because of my LinkedIn QR code on my nametag.
There were a couple reasons why these techniques worked better in Denver than in Las Vegas.
First, the DisruptHR event was specifically set up to encourage people to meet and mingle, unlike the conference in Vegas. Most of the free time at the conference was spent walking between sessions or checking out vendor booths.
There was devoted networking time at the conference in the evening, but I opted to go see other sights in Vegas rather than attend these events. My choice, but it impacted my networking.
At DisruptHR, people showed up to eat and drink before the speakers started, so there was nothing else to do except meet new people.
Additionally, the t-shirt worked better because it was easier to see in the smaller crowd at DisruptHR. I was able to stand out more at that event than in the crowded exhibit hall at the conference.
Second, the nametag with my QR code also worked better because I was able to show it to people once they started talking to me. At the conference, I didn’t get into the networking conversations to begin with, so there was no opportunity to use the QR code to connect.
In Denver, I instantly got several new connections on LinkedIn that can see what I’m posting and can interact with me right away.
A lot of people handed my their business cards.
All of these cards are currently sitting in a pile on my desk. This is what usually happens to business cards.
That's why I prefer to have my QR code handy. I don't have to go through my pile of business cards and figure out how to get back in touch with them.
The DisruptHR event was a great reminder that where you network and which event you go to can have a big impact on the success of your networking techniques.
Sometimes, smaller groups of people can be better for standing out and making new connections. While you can network at conferences, you need to understand that your strategies will work better in some situations than in others.
It's important to have a plan for your networking, but to be flexible and adjust in the moment.
What I’m Sharing This Week
I'm always on the lookout for different approaches to networking. I have my approach, but it's not the only approach.
When I come across new ideas, I love to share them with my readers.
This week, I listened to Loren Greiff’s podcast episode with Julie Brown on her approach to networking.
One of my key takeaways was when Julie talks about figuring out which people you want to meet and then finding the rooms they are in, figuratively and literally.
This reminds me of TIN #006 - Don't Give People Your Resume (Do This Instead) when we talked about creating a Target List.
Think about the people you want to add to your network. Use this list to guide your networking and be intentional about who you want to meet.
Get in the same room they are in!
Last Thing
I want to show you something I got in the mail this week:
How does this relate to networking?
See each one of those dots?
That's a week in my life (or your life if you buy one of these posters from 4kweeks.com).
Think about the dots as one new or rekindled connection.
If you met one new person or even just connected with one person each week, you're dots will start to add up.
If you did that for a year, you'd have 52 connections.
It's easy to say "52" but when you see how many dots that is on each line, it becomes more meaningful.
Do you think you could do that?
One new connection or reconnection each week for a year.
What would that mean for your network?
Have a great week!
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