Charity for all.How often are you or your company bombarded with requests to buy tickets to an organization's scholarship dinner, benefit luncheon or a political banquet? These events are more than just a great social occasion that can be written off at tax time; they can offer you tremendous opportunities to network with individuals you may not get to meet--or greet--otherwise. Take for example, Jim Chance, president of Environmental Data Consultants in Yonkers, N.Y., a 7-year-old design, engineering and project management firm that handles hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. cleanup. In 1989, Chance attended a regional meeting of the National Black MBA Association The National Black MBA Association is a professional association for African Americans with a Master of Business Administration. The National Black MBA Association was formed in 1970 and currently has 40 chapters and 6000 members in the United States. in Boston and exchanged table conversation and business cards with Yvonne McCants, of Sommerville, N.J., a fellow member. McCants passed the card along to an associate, who was developing an information and tracking system of hazardous materials. The associate got Chance's foot in the door. "Although I went through the procurement The fancy word for "purchasing." The procurement department within an organization manages all the major purchases. office, she helped me define and clarify the parameters of the criteria that the company was looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ." Chance got the contract. Banquets and benefits offer a naturally conducive con·du·cive adj. Tending to cause or bring about; contributive: working conditions not conducive to productivity. See Synonyms at favorable. environment to network, since most people are in a relaxed mood and open to sharing information about themselves and listening to others. These events can also be a valuable source when relocating to another city. When Denise H. Lloyd, founder and president of D.H. Lloyd & Associates Inc., an insurance brokerage firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., relocated re·lo·cate v. re·lo·cat·ed, re·lo·cat·ing, re·lo·cates v.tr. To move to or establish in a new place: relocated the business. v.intr. there from New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , she didn't know anyone. "Dinners and receptions were paramount in developing my business," she says. "If you're going to buy a $200 ticket and turn it into a networking opportunity, then it's going to be a lot of work. But, I've found that it pays off," says Madeleine Madeleine (măd`əlĭn, Fr. mädlĕn`) [Fr.,=Magdalen, i.e., Mary Magdalen], large church of Paris, in the Place de la Madeleine. It was originally planned by J. A. Moore, president of Moore Creative Marketing, a sales-promotion and marketing firm in Brooklyn, N.Y. Moore offers five points to make your "power party" networking more effective: * Define why you're going and your purpose. Is this a business or social interaction? * If possible, find out who's coming and plan to work the room. Have a "script" in mind, just in case someone introduces you to the "golden opportunity" you've been waiting for. * If you're going to a cause-related event, find out who the sponsors are. Know something about the company and the causes it supports. This can provide entry into a conversation and position you as knowledgeable of their interests. * Come early and stay late. This lets you meet everyone as they come in. And staying late allows you to make contact with as many people as possible and maximize opportunities. * Scribble scribble - To modify a data structure in a random and unintentionally destructive way. "Bletch! Somebody's disk-compactor program went berserk and scribbled on the i-node table." "It was working fine until one of the allocation routines scribbled on low core. notes about your conversations on the back of the business cards you collect. Follow up later, preferably the next day, with a note expressing your pleasure and that you look forward to your next conversation. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion