I’ve never really understood the verb “to network”. It always seemed like a frivolous thing to me, something people said when they wanted to sound like they were on the verge of going places, to explain their current status of standing still. I have always felt that a network was a noun, a thing; maybe not something you could wrap your arms around or take a picture of, but at least a tangible concept that represented real things that were interconnected by common bonds.
Networking is not a place – it’s the journey
I’ve never done anything with the intent of “networking”. I’ve always just done things; talked about things; researched things. Along the way, I’ve met some brilliant people full of brilliant and passionate ideas about their fields. Strong bonds are formed through collective experience – be it a struggle, a discovery, a failure or a triumph. If you go about your life with your goals in mind, you’ll find valuable, like-minded friends along the road. Skipping the experience means skipping the journey and standing in the white-walled room labeled “Networking”.
The networking event
In years gone by, finding like-minded people wasn’t as easy as it is today. A world without search meant we were limited to the true six degrees of separation of the physical world. If you didn’t know someone who knew someone, you were out of luck. Before social tools, geography was a limiting factor in communications. Staying in touch from a distance meant arduous phone calls, emails, or newsletters. The way to solve these two factors was easy – the networking event: gather as many individuals as possible together in a room, put out some crackers and allow them to mingle and exchange business cards and pleasantries.
Spontaneous vs contrived
These events can generally fall into two categories: grassroots events and marketing events.
The natural events are part of the journey. Groups of people on similar journeys decide it’s time to get together and share a space and weave their paths together for a period of time. A tweet-up is a great example of this. It just happens.
The marketing event is a different species. A person with a financial interest in a particular demographic has a goal of herding wearied travelers into their roadside stop, hoping to sell them something they need; a car, a vacation, an education, or the promise of a comfortable retirement. Positioned as outsiders, marketers are continually stuck with the difficult task of not just finding people, but also in convincing them to listen to a sales pitch. Networking events once had value; filling the same need as the local church: listen to the talk and share some crackers but most of all get to know your tribe.
Networking met social
We don’t live in that village anymore. Our village ran a wire to the next village. We added the ability to search and find others on journeys to similar destinations in life. We built social networks, and it is easier than ever to keep in touch with groups of any size; regardless of geography or any other physical limitation.
This has had a polarizing effect on the two types of networking events. Our increasing ability to find others and build ties before meeting in person, combined with the ability to quickly mobilize has made grassroots meet-ups more powerful and valuable than ever. On the other hand, the value proposition of corporate events is progressively weakened. Take the networking out of church, and you’re at least left with religion. Take the networking out of the event, and you’re left with a sales pitch. Now where’s the fun in that?
Be part of the journey – create the network
Photo credit: MV Janzen | Flickr
Put yourself in the shoes of Kevin Costner. You’ve been tasked with assembling a team of deceased baseball legends. What do you do?
You could buy billboards in small towns across the mid west, where barnstorming teams once ruled the summers. You could run classifieds in the obituary sections of newspapers in historically strong baseball cities. You could buy a list of leads from Cooperstown and cold call around dinner time.
Or you could build your own baseball field and give the players a compelling reason to come to you.
When he wanted to find other web analysts, Eric Peterson built his own baseball field. He created the Yahoo! Web Analytics Group, which has grown to be the most valuable source of information in the industry.
When she needed to communicate with incoming students, Rachel Reuben built her own baseball field. Cafe New Paltz is a network built on Ning that allows for all new students at her University to get to know each other.
When Gary Vaynerchuk wanted to reach wine drinkers, he built one field (Wine Library TV) and bought another (Corkd – a social network for oenophiles around the world).
If you build it…
Compared to the thought of building your own network, it seems easy to build a marketing plan, spend some money, get a pile of impressions and find a few folks willing to show up to your venue if the weather is good and the refreshments are better.
How do you keep in touch with these people after the fact, and how do they keep in touch with each other. What happens when you need to do your event again next month, next quarter or next year?
You have to repeat the process all over again, spending all the money all over again.
What if you started now, and created a community, building it one person at a time. What if you used your current marketing spend for your next event to encourage people to join a facebook or LinkedIn group? What if you put information about your tribe on your website and attracted a few new people every day.
Take the message of your two-hour event and deliver consistent value throughout the year. Participate within the group as an expert in your industry, answering the questions that arise amongst the conversations that occur. With a bit of patience and dedication, your next event won’t be a simply room of strangers sitting through a sales pitch, it will be a grassroots meet-up of friends. Maybe the next event won’t require your marketing budget, and will be organized by the group, who will understand your value and invite you along for the journey.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
“Networking” can seem contrived, no matter if it’s the marketing event or grassroots get-together. The only solution is to be authentic – get into conversations out of interest and passion, not just self-interest. Talk to new people because you’re interested in what they know and can teach you, not because you have something to tell them. It’s easy to forget that this new generation of “networking” is just that, because if you’re doing it right, it feels more like socializing than the former.
Great advice – there’s a ton of potential in forming communities and having daily conversation. Events are great places for people to meet face-to-face, but the difference in value-add of a one-time interaction versus a continuous relationship is huge. Thanks for the reminder!