Many businesses I know count on networking as an important part of business development, and sometimes an event stands out. One did for me late yesterday afternoon, and here's why, and what made it good.
It was crowded. It was off in a corner of a popular bar, Oak City in Bloomington, and there were at least 40-50 people there.
What's good about that? Well, it reduced that awkward clustering that happens where there's more room to spread out. It's easier to start a conversation with a stranger if you just turn around, rather than walk across the room. There was some "breathing room" at the edges, for those who got a little claustrophobic..
It was quiet enough to have a conversation at the edges of the crowd, or even in the middle.
It mixed two groups that don't normally get together for the first time - the Linked Minnesota networking group and the CHAD Meet-Up group. That made for a nice mix of familiar faces and people I hadn't met before. A banker I've met several times said he'd given my card to someone who needed some help with their business strategy, and I met a nice job-seeker who loves working in customer relations gave me a great reason to reach out to an old friend who may need someone in that role.
I had good conversations and discovered some mutual interests with about four people there, and will be following up with them next week.
I'll be folding a few examples of things I saw (or did) into the Networking micro-seminar I'm doing next Friday.
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