This morning on the Marketing Mix Blog, self-promo rock star Ilise Benun posed the question: do early risers make better networkers? In her experience, Ilise seems to prefer morning events, but will they work for everyone?
I think it all depends on how you work. In my first year promoting the zen kitchen, I tried a number of different types of events, and I found the few morning events I got to quite unproductive, for a couple of reasons. For one, the time it takes to actually get ready and head down to a 7am networking event would literally have me up sometime around 4:30-5am, given the long commute into Boston via public transit, and that just didn't work for me. I'd show up with hair still wet and making a beeline for the coffee and breakfast, and while I did meet a couple of folks, they were almost never folks that I kept in touch with.
And since so much of my work is with entrepreneurs (literally 80% of my business at this point, and I'm happy with that), the folks I found at the morning meetings were mostly folks that were in the area anyway, which in most areas of Boston means mostly corporate types and folks in the financial industry.
In general, your first year of attending events is really an evaluation period to find out what types of events work for you - try a bit of each of them, and stick with the ones where you enjoy the people you meet there, you feel focused and confident, and you get out of them what you intend to. For me, it's lunch/dinner events where you actually sit down and talk to people, and where there's a good mix of people but it's not an enormous crowd. Cocktail events don't work for me, and I despise crowded events. You might find that a different mix works for you. That's the beauty of so many options - you can pick and choose the mix that works.
So, what are your favorite types of events?
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Comments: 5
I used to be a morning meeting person, but then I had a kid and if I ever made it to a meeting, I would be late, disheveled, and grumpy as I likely hadn't had time for a cup of coffee. I realized that this was not how I wanted potential networking contacts to view me, so I no longer do morning events (although as my child gets older, I'll likely go back to morning meetings). These days, I've actually found my best networking is over coffee because it's intimate, time-efficient and can fit into my busy schedule. Another thing people should consider is if you're an introvert, you should pick events where there is a speaker or facilitator so that the pressure is off you.
That's an interesting point - it didn't occur to me that kids would be another reason against morning events. In my case, the problem ended up being a grad student boyfriend who would keep me up until all hours; I couldn't get out of bed most mornings, and when I did get out of bed, I wanted to get straight to work!
Agreed on facilitated events for introverts - but I'll also add that, in my experience, more people at an event often doesn't mean more opportunity - in fact, I've found that I get less quality contacts at larger, more crowded events because there's so much pressure for people to "work the room".
I prefer morning because my day (and mind) has not gotten away from me yet. I am focused and clear, and have time to review what I want out of a meeting without pressing issues and out of control to-do lists churning in my mind. I also arrive at the office after a meeting feeling invigorated and productive--it sets the tone for the rest of my day. Now if I could only convince my network to give it a try! I find most people resistant to the idea. I have no kids and live in the City so I am sure that makes a difference.
Okay I am the black sheep to you guys, as me and mornings are enemies I believe. Being a writer and staying up till wee hours of the illuminating darkness that is left before sunrise, I usually do my best 'networking', writing, editing, composing, and certainly not sleeping. I sleep till noon if I fall asleep by 6am . . .