Last week, Valerie Simon interviewed me for her BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas post, “Maximizing the Value of an Event.” In advance of #PRStudChat Twitter chat, where I was one of the special guests, I got to offer a few tips for enhancing your networking experience at industry events.
On the subject of networking, I’d like to dive in a little further….
My husband is currently looking for a job, so he has had to ramp-up his networking. It seems he’s not alone. Often at networking events, you will find a lot of job seekers. But, why wait until you need to network? Why not do it all the time? This way, when the need arises, you are already connected with many people who can help you. You can use networking to help you find mentors, collaborators, partners, and future colleagues. Remember, if you help someone, they are more willing to help you.
I recently had the opportunity to interview Lauren Lawson-Zilai, media relations manager, Goodwill Industries International. In the video below, she describes the many ways she has used networking to help her professionally.
There are many places you can network with other professionals—
- Professional organization events
- Conferences
- Tweetups
- Award events
- Meals out with other professionals
- Happy hour events
- Places you volunteer
Once you’re there, here are a few tips:
- Mingle often and don’t spend too much time with any one person or group of people.
- Bring cards and be sure to ask for cards from the people you meet.
- Write notes on the back of the card (if culturally appropriate) about the people you meet.
- Follow-up! Keep the connection going by sending them a note and inviting them to connect with you via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo or another social media channel. (Note: you can connect your LinkedIn and Plaxo accounts, so you don’t have to send two invites.)
The same night as the #PRStudChat, I attended a Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) Speed Networking event, where I had a chance to meet several people in a short period of time. The next day, I had several emails from attendees about volunteering and working together. I was really impressed with the great follow-up!
Do you have any advice for other readers? What helps you expand your network?
WWPR, we try to post information and teasers on the event across many social media platforms, like Facebook fan pages, Facebook events, LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn events, and Twitter,” she shares. “If the speaker(s) have a Twitter handle, we like to promote it and our hashtag #WWPR. And, we encourage live tweeting from the event. We have found several free calendars on the Internet, which we use to promote our events.”
It’s that time of year again. Yes, it’s public relations and marketing conference season. 
