This was probably not the fault of the organisation. I suspect the kind of business I was in was not amenable to networking of their type. But I also resented what I saw as the oppressive nature of the organisation; you must turn up every week, there can only be one of each type of business in the group, you will bring referrals, etc.
Then, late 2008, when I was panicking about a very thin diary, I wandered in to a hotel-based business exhibition. This is not something I normally do since my experience has always been of a cluster of unduly small tables with desperate people clutching at me as I walk by. But, hey ho, I had nothing better to do so in I went.
One of the outfits there happened top be a networking organisation called 4Networking. They ran a 'speed networking' demo which was a bit of a laugh.
A few days later I received an invitation to a 4N networking breakfast. Hey ho, I had nothing better to do so in I went.
It was even more fun than the 'speed' demo - and I made what looked like a couple of useful contacts. (Actually neither of them turned into anything useful but 0 out of 2 is not unusual.)
The organisation also had some interesting ideas:
- a six-month trial membership
- no restrictions on numbers of similar business
- no mandatory attendance
- attend any group, anytime, anywhere in the country
So I took a six month trial .
How did it go? I've been a member for over a year now!
Check it out - it's a refreshingly different approach to networking.
(No, I'm not being paid to write this blog!)
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