Networking that works!

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting in person for the first time some wonderful tweeps at an event entitled "No Excuses Networking" organised by Jessica Eckford of @angelicevents. I was invited (or should I say coerced?!) by my friend, Speaker, Author and respected authority on connections, Iggy Pintado.

I'll admit, as it was my networking debut I was a bit nervy upfront but @IggyPintado convinced me that it was time I finally get myself "out there“. I guess the main reason for my not being proactive about networking offlline earlier is due to the fact that all my clients have found me via my online activities or referrals, so it just didn't seem necessary. Also, I've been out of the corporate loop for awhile and felt a little rusty, not particularly keen on making small talk with strangers, although that is something I am perfectly comfortable with online! However, later I realised I had really been missing the point, and missing out.

Anyhoo, the prospect of interacting face to face with some members of my twittercrew was an opportunity too good to miss. After quickly scanning the area for any familiar faces from Twitter avatars, I hooked up with 2 ladies - @MonikaVA and @transcribe - I had often tweeted and skyped, but never met.

It dawned on me then just how important it is to make the effort to convert any great online connections you establish, into 3 dimensional relationships. For me, the best bit was speaking to these people and meeting others I had heard of and respected, and seeing they really are what they tweet.

In the end, the only disappointing thing was that I had to cut the night short having pre-arranged with my husband to pick me up, otherwise I would have been more than happy to mingle talking to others about their business and life experiences.

I asked a few other tweeps who attended what their highlight of the night was:

@schmediachick - The opportunity to meet your third place mates in the flesh & hear their Twitter testimonies

@iconic88 - meeting you (me @vipvirtualsols) and other Twitter friends

@leesafar - Mine was meeting all u lovely ppl in person (note: your live a capella performance was fab too Lee!)

@AndrewBlanda - Putting the face to the names of some of my most important tweeps and meeting great + interesting people

@MarietteRD - Gr8 chat to @kerrypintado & meeting a whole new group of peeps

@frombecca - an all round great Sydney networking event - even enrolled a few more to here (Twitter) that night

So there you have it, it's unanimous, and now there really are no excuses. I've just linked to a dozen wonderful people for you to follow and tweet, and be sure to tell them Alex sent you! ;) For those familiar with Twitter #hashtags, just search for "#noxnet" and you'll be able to find many more great connections from these events. Networking really has never been this easy.

The next Xmas "No Excuses Networking“ event is being held on November 19th at the same venue, The Loft, in Sydney. Special guest speakers are David Spanton of Spanton Media Group and Justin Herald 2005 winner of the "International Entrepreneur Of The Year“. For more details click here, and to see the picture galleries of all the previous events click here.

Hope to meet you soon!
Alex