Friday, January 20, 2006
Plan Your Own Networking Events
I can't believe it's been a week since my last post. This week has gone by incredibly fast. I did have two breakfast networking meetings with members of the Legal Resource Group, a networking organization for professionals selling to law firms. I also attended a Harvard Club of Fairfield County networking event.
One very good book on networking and how to succeed through networking is the book Never Eat Lunch Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. One of the good pieces of advice in the book (among many), is that when you attend trade shows, you should plan some intimate gatherings for some select clients and potential clients.
Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I am planning my company's presence at LegalTech NY. We are hosting a small private dinner for some of our top existing clients and select potential clients at an upscale restaurant on the opening night of the conference.
So, my suggestions are to read Never Eat Lunch Alone, and to take Keith's advice and host your own exclusive networking events at tradeshows.
One very good book on networking and how to succeed through networking is the book Never Eat Lunch Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. One of the good pieces of advice in the book (among many), is that when you attend trade shows, you should plan some intimate gatherings for some select clients and potential clients.
Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I am planning my company's presence at LegalTech NY. We are hosting a small private dinner for some of our top existing clients and select potential clients at an upscale restaurant on the opening night of the conference.
So, my suggestions are to read Never Eat Lunch Alone, and to take Keith's advice and host your own exclusive networking events at tradeshows.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Attend Industry Conferences
This has a fairly busy week, so I didn't get a chance to write as much as I would have liked. One of the things I have been busy with is the planning of my company's presence at LegalTech NY. For those of you in the legal services industry, you probably go every year. If you're not in this industry, you probably never heard of it.
My suggestion on networking is that you attend as many industry conferences as you can. They are a great place to network, especially with the workshop speakers and other participants. These days, many industry conferences offer free registration for the exhibit hall, the keynote speaker sessions, and a few workshop. That's how it is with LegalTech. I encourage you to search for interesting conferences in your industry to attend.
If you will be in the New York area from 1/30 to 2/1, come and check out Legal Tech. You can register to see the exhibits and attend the keynote sessions for free. Use 123456 in the priority / mailing code field. Come and visit me. I'll be in booth # 227.
My suggestion on networking is that you attend as many industry conferences as you can. They are a great place to network, especially with the workshop speakers and other participants. These days, many industry conferences offer free registration for the exhibit hall, the keynote speaker sessions, and a few workshop. That's how it is with LegalTech. I encourage you to search for interesting conferences in your industry to attend.
If you will be in the New York area from 1/30 to 2/1, come and check out Legal Tech. You can register to see the exhibits and attend the keynote sessions for free. Use 123456 in the priority / mailing code field. Come and visit me. I'll be in booth # 227.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Join Plaxo
Many of you are probably already using Plaxo. For those of you who are not Plaxo members, my simple suggestion today is to join. The basic level is free. If you want, they offer a premium service.
Plaxo helps you to manage your contact information. Once you import all the addresses in your address book to Plaxo, you will immediately see all the people who are already Plaxo members. For these people, you will always have the most up to date contact information, even if they move or change jobs. Whenever other Plaxo members update their profile, your address book is automatically updated. You can access your address book online at Plaxo at any time, anywhere you have Internet access.
For the non-Plaxo members in your address book, you can send out a customized mass email to each of your contacts. In this email, you can list their current work and home address and contact info, and ask them to reply with any changes. Plaxo automatically updates your address book with their replies.
You can also download a Plaxo plug-in to your Outlook. This will then synchronize the contact info in your Outlook with Plaxo.
Finally, if your work or home information change, you can also send out a personalized broadcase email to the people you select with your new contact info.
Overall, I think Plaxo is a great tool for networking and for keeping in touch with people.
Plaxo helps you to manage your contact information. Once you import all the addresses in your address book to Plaxo, you will immediately see all the people who are already Plaxo members. For these people, you will always have the most up to date contact information, even if they move or change jobs. Whenever other Plaxo members update their profile, your address book is automatically updated. You can access your address book online at Plaxo at any time, anywhere you have Internet access.
For the non-Plaxo members in your address book, you can send out a customized mass email to each of your contacts. In this email, you can list their current work and home address and contact info, and ask them to reply with any changes. Plaxo automatically updates your address book with their replies.
You can also download a Plaxo plug-in to your Outlook. This will then synchronize the contact info in your Outlook with Plaxo.
Finally, if your work or home information change, you can also send out a personalized broadcase email to the people you select with your new contact info.
Overall, I think Plaxo is a great tool for networking and for keeping in touch with people.
Friday, January 06, 2006
Reconnect With Your Former Colleagues
Today, I had a good networking discussion with Joe McCafferty. Joe was one of my mentors at Accenture, and I enjoyed our quarterly dinners at nice restaurants in Boston. After we both left Accenture, we lost touch for a long time. We reconnected recently through LinkedIn.
When you create your LinkedIn profile, you can list all the previous companies that you worked for. From the main page, you can then easily search for other colleagues who used to work at one of your former companies and invited them to connect to you. That is how Joe and I reconnected.
Joe is the owner and Managing Director of Tandem Solutions, a consulting company that focuses on organizational development and learning development consulting. We reminisced about our days at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and traded news of other ex-Accenture folks we kept in touch with. We also shared info about people we think can help us in our current roles.
Accenture has a website for alumni to reconnect with each other. I think that most large companies probably have something similar. If you searched for your previous companies' alumni network on Google, you're probably going to find it if there is one. I think it would be a great networking tool for you to join.
Finally, here's an article about the benefits of reconnecting with former colleagues.
When you create your LinkedIn profile, you can list all the previous companies that you worked for. From the main page, you can then easily search for other colleagues who used to work at one of your former companies and invited them to connect to you. That is how Joe and I reconnected.
Joe is the owner and Managing Director of Tandem Solutions, a consulting company that focuses on organizational development and learning development consulting. We reminisced about our days at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and traded news of other ex-Accenture folks we kept in touch with. We also shared info about people we think can help us in our current roles.
Accenture has a website for alumni to reconnect with each other. I think that most large companies probably have something similar. If you searched for your previous companies' alumni network on Google, you're probably going to find it if there is one. I think it would be a great networking tool for you to join.
Finally, here's an article about the benefits of reconnecting with former colleagues.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Email People You've Met Right Away
Last night, I attended a mixer hosted by the NY Chapter for the alums of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Many of the folks who attended are current students, visiting NYC to check out summer internships in NY.
One of the things I like to do after meeting people, is to send them an email right away. Typically, I find that when you meet someone at a networking meeting, if you don't contact them right away, they will forget who you are. If you contact them later, they may wonder how you met.
Ever since I joined LinkedIn, I use LinkedIn to send out these emails. I enter in the names and email addresses of everyone I meet, and send them a customized invitation to join LinkedIn and connect to me.
Here is an example of what I wrote:
It was a pleasure meeting you last night at the Anderson networking event. I would like to invite you to join LinkedIn and keep in touch through this wonderful networking tool. There is also a UCLA Anderson group within LinkedIn that you can join.
You don't have to use LinkedIn or any of other networking tools to send out emails. However, I would highly recommend that you send a short note to the people you meet at networking events (preferably that day or the day after) to suggest keeping in touch.
One of the things I like to do after meeting people, is to send them an email right away. Typically, I find that when you meet someone at a networking meeting, if you don't contact them right away, they will forget who you are. If you contact them later, they may wonder how you met.
Ever since I joined LinkedIn, I use LinkedIn to send out these emails. I enter in the names and email addresses of everyone I meet, and send them a customized invitation to join LinkedIn and connect to me.
Here is an example of what I wrote:
It was a pleasure meeting you last night at the Anderson networking event. I would like to invite you to join LinkedIn and keep in touch through this wonderful networking tool. There is also a UCLA Anderson group within LinkedIn that you can join.
You don't have to use LinkedIn or any of other networking tools to send out emails. However, I would highly recommend that you send a short note to the people you meet at networking events (preferably that day or the day after) to suggest keeping in touch.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Subscribe to Networking Events Lists
I hope you had a great New Years. Now that I'm back from a few days off, I started to map out the networking events that I plan to attend in January. Most of them will be events organized by my alma maters, or organizations that I am a member of. In this New Year, I encourage you to attend at least one networking event every month. Even though I'm a big fan of online networking through LinkedIn, openBC, etc, it's important to network with people in person too.
For those of you in the New York area, take a look at Bernardo's List. Bernado sends out a weekly email every Tuesday to his subscribers with many of the networking events going on in the New York area. If you don't live in the New York area, perhaps there is a similar networking list that you can subscribe to. If you can't find any, then start your own! What better way to network with people!
For those of you in the New York area, take a look at Bernardo's List. Bernado sends out a weekly email every Tuesday to his subscribers with many of the networking events going on in the New York area. If you don't live in the New York area, perhaps there is a similar networking list that you can subscribe to. If you can't find any, then start your own! What better way to network with people!
