Is networking useful?
I recently attended a rather useless networking event in the North East which shall remain unidentified. I have previously resisted all attempts to lure me to any “networking” events. I always imagine them to be a bad version of The Office with minor players handing out business cards left right and centre. A relative who has to attend these things as part of his job tells me that I’m not far wrong. So it was unfortunate that I could no longer resist the offer of free wine and nibbles and ended up wasting an evening with a patronising government/academic enterprise interested in nurturing private enterprise.
The problem is there from the start. By definition, academia and government are the two areas filled with unenterprising people. Academia and government provide jobs - and have a mindset to match. So it was with a pinch of salt that I listened to lecturers, funding bodies and middle management of successful businesses make their pitch.
The only genuine businessman turned out to be a really old-fashioned and patronising guy who sits on the board of a funding body. When I mentioned that he might be able to fulfill a contract I’m interested in offering he scoffed that his usual clients are people like BA - not allowing himself to believe that two young business people might be interested in spending thousands on top level software. To add insult to injury he said that we could join the lowest rung of his business forum membership - wonderfully titled “the nurture pool”. He didn’t seem to find it funny when I said it sounded like a masonic lodge and would there be any paddling involved?
I made one useful contact during the evening - a guy who sells something and needs exactly the kind of help online that we offer. He has since rung up and we have given him some free advice with the possibility of doing business on a profit-share basis in the future. That help will save him thousands as well as negate the need for upfront spending as well as hopefully making us some cash as well.
So was I wrong to refuse the offer of a networking event when I opened my bank account and notified IR of my status? I don’t think so. In stark contrast to the networking event mentioned above I have met many more friends who are already usefully engaged in projects that tally with my own. Meetings through parties, balls and chatting with old friends have yielded many more valuable contacts than through this event.
However, I am not averse to the suggestion that I simply went to the wrong event. Maybe an event hosted by business rather than government would have a more commercial edge to it - rather than being an excuse to spend taxpayers money on something vaguely related to enterprise.
What do you think? Have you ever had a useful or disastrous networking experience? Comment in the box below, you do not have to leave your real name.
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