Networking: how much is too much?

Comments 16 December 2008

Most of us have been taught that networking is a good thing right? “It’s all about who you know” At what point does all this “networking” become useless? Don’t get me wrong I love meeting new people and I think that was one of the main reasons I started going to all these events in the first place. But sometimes I wonder, am I networking, or just making friends? Or is it the same thing.

Gary’s Guide is a popular site for media and tech events that many people will use when planning their schedule. But how are you supposed to filter through all these events. The events listed just for Wed. Dec 17th is enough to make your head spin.

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NY:MIEG – 3rd Annual Holiday Breakfast Event, December 2008 NYC SPIN Meeting, BIM Cafe – Networking Event, Wall Street Technology Association (WSTA) Holiday Gala, Contacts & Cocktails: Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Angel Investor Networking Event, Entrepreneurs Roundtable 9, NYLUG – Matt Jamison on Fedora LiveCD & Holiday Pizza Party, Magnify.net Holiday Party, NAMIC-New York Holiday Soiree, The New York City Information Architecture December Meetup, The New York Affiliate Marketing December Meetup, New York Internet Marketing December Meetup, Digital Wednesdays @ Hotel Gansevoort, Innovation in the Music Business: An Action Learning Seminar

Sometimes there are crazy weeks where I seem to be at an event every night. Sometimes more than 1 a night. I have often found myself forgetting events because they were splashed across so many different social networks. I have tried to export everything to the calender on my phone but sometimes I miss something. How are we supposed to keep up with all these events? And what are we gaining from it?

These are some questions I often ask myself. Being in the tech scene in NYC you could easily go to a new event every night, but would that help you achieve your career goals? At this point in my life I am very young and the word “career” doesn’t seem to have a lot of focus. So I wonder if all this “networking” that I am doing will benefit me in any way, but along with all the business networking I have made some pretty amazing friends along the way. Being part of such a thriving tech community has truly added value to my life.

Do you think that networking events have helped your career? How many networking events are you attending these days?

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Insightful read. I have just bookmarked this at stumbleupon. Hope others find it as interesting as I did.

Happy

I'm only 2 or 3 years older than you and I can say that networking has definately helped me. I go to about 1 or 2 per month. They range from tweetups to happy hours to events sponsored by professional groups to stuff they hold at the university. Networking helped me obtain my current job, got me a chance to string for the AP and opportunities to speak at meetings.

I would certainly encourage you to continue to network, but probably tone it down a bit. I don't live in a huge metropolitan area like you, but I sure wouldn't go to more than 1 event per week...That's exhausting! If you are seeing the same people at every event you go to, maybe you should branch out into different group. Techies are fun, but so are PR people...Old-timer publishers have great stories to tell and broadcast folks are totally different in real life than on TV. Everyone brings something different to the table.

Networking is different than "making friends", especially in my case, because I like to keep it professional. Of course, you do sometimes run into those people that you click with, and that's always nice.

I think you're doing an excellent job so far, but if you need to take a break, do it! There's no requirement to network 24/7, but I feel that those that do have more opportunities available to them than those that don't.