Comments on: What not to do at networking events

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:17:43 +0000

If there’s someone in particular you want to meet, you could ask someone else to introduce you. At the Brighton Chamber we have special ambassadors who will do this for you, but you could always just ask the person you’re talking to to help out – it could become their mission for the evening.
Joining three people in conversation works well, as often the person you want to speak to can “peel off” and chat to you, without appearing rude to the others.
If you’ve been in a group of people with the person you want to meet, but haven’t had chance to speak to them directly, this does give you an excuse to get in touch with them after the event. So you could say “I really wanted to talk to you about X, but I didn’t get chance at the breakfast event this morning.” Much nicer than a cold call, as you’ve already established something in common.

By: Clive Reader

Clive Reader — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 12:40:59 +0000

I am a naturally chatty and friendly person, so networking should be natural for me, but I often find it very frustrating, particularly when there is someone I wish to get to know, but they are standing in a group of people in animated discussion.

Is it rude to barge in and try to grab the attention of the person that you especially want to get to know? I believe so, so I often end up “lingering” at the side, not particularly interested in the conversation going on, but not wishing to be rude by trying to butt and in steer it onto something else that I want to talk about. (People do it to me at networking events, and I find it very annoying).

Then it starts to get embarrassing that I’m just “lingering” and not participating, so maybe I drift away and hope to come back later. Often, that later opportunity doesn’t come about. When the person I want to talk to becomes free, I may be in the middle of another conversation, and don’t want to dump the person or group and say, or imply, “Actually, I want to talk to that person more than I want to talk to you, so I’m going over to them.”

So then I leave the event frustrated that I didn’t use the chance to get to know the one or two people that I particularly wanted to get to know. Any tips?

By: Philip Jones

Philip Jones — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:24:49 +0000

Oh god – I hope that you never spot me doing anything dodgy!

The worst I saw was at a – being careful now – network event in West Sussex. This guy ran his own photography business and came in with a big pile of cards, clutched between both hands. I’m not going to tell you who – but I have remembered him..

He ran around, made no eye contact, certainly no conversation, pushed past people and thrust cards into our hands.

In the future, if I need a photograph taking I would employee anybody but that guy!

Perhaps the first rule to making a good impression is not to make a bad one

: – )

Phil