Organized Networking Makes Sense

Too often when working a room, many of us do so with little thought on being organized. As lawyers, we are methodical by nature in many of our dealings, but I expect networking isn't one of them. Then, I ran across a post Bruce Allen did on his Marketing Catalyst blog during the holidays, that I like for it's systematic approach and wanted to share it.

Allen talks about working a room in 60-minutes, presumably because during the busy holiday season, people have numerous events to attend. Whether you limit your networking to a fixed time, isn't the point, what is has to do with being organized to get the most out of what might otherwise be a haphazard approach to networking. So, here's his suggestions:

• Get there early and check out the name tags for people you want to talk with;
• In the early stages, hang out at the entrance to see (people you want to engage in conversation) and be seen;
• Invite people to join you at the bar or food table, and offer to bring drinks to a group you'd like to join;
• After the event is in full swing, move to the back of the room greeting people as you go;
• From the back, survey for additional people, including VIPs you would like to meet; and
• Then, work your way back toward the entrance greeting people as you go.

Take a look at his post, as I didn't capture all his points. A more organized approach to working an event makes sense, and after you get the hang of it, improve your chances of success at networking.

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