You think you do networking well? When was the last time you attended a conference?

Networking! I just typed in this word on Google and the first suggestion for it was 'networking tips'..?! In a social context, a network reflects the people you connect to, those who represent your network - either at work or family and friends, or even special interest groups. Networks and networking have recently gained prominence in our lives. Some people even argue that the bigger your network of peers is, the more successful you are, in both work and life. It is then essential you communicate well and know how to grow your network! But how we get to succeed as networkers?

To Google, or not to Google?

I received an email today requesting some information on time differences between the different countries our MBA operates in, to which my reaction was ‘couldn’t Google answer this question?’

After reflecting about this, I started to think about how we go about getting information these days and the effect this has on our interactions with one another.

How social is networking?

I was talking to one of my MBA colleagues this afternoon about networking.  I asked her whether people are organising meetings any better now than they did 20 years or so ago (not that she is old enough to address that question exactly but that was the comparison I was wanting to make).

I remember when a group of us established a branch of the Institute of Marketing (as it was at the time) in Cambridge.  We were all young, the city was quite small then and the viability of the branch was a little fragile so we had to do everything we could to keep people coming to meetings.  We had several people who had the specific task of greeting people and introducing them to someone else.  Nobody was left on their own.  As a committee, we tried to know everyone.  We weren’t a bunch of mates meeting up but a welcoming, professional team running a welcoming, professional event.