Who’s on your networking bucket list?

bobby    Community, Professional Development     Networking

About three years ago, I decided to get into social networking.  No, not Facebook or Twitter.  I mean real, live, old-school, networking.  I’d like to pretend it was an active decision, but we all know the truth (more on this later).  Regardless, I set up a meeting with an old friend, Brian Kelley (web | twitter) — who is a community leader in the Sql Server world (as well as security, youth ministry, and a host of other things) — to get his take on how to get started.  He recommended looking into Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi.  It’s a great book and a quick read, I’d definitely recommend it.  From there, I went on to have a -lot- more lunches, go to more conferences (and host a few), extend a few greetings to people that I’d never have approached in the past.

After while, I realized I needed a little more direction and to set a few goals.  I began planning how I would attend a conference and use the resources at-hand.  After meeting a few people that I thought I’d never meet in real-life – sometimes completely by accident – I decided to make a list of people that I’d love to have lunch with or otherwise just sit and chat: the Networking Bucket List.

What is a networking bucket list, and why should you care?  Anyone who has attended a conference, met with a customer, or even gone to the gym has done some kind of networking.  You can’t even go to the store without making contact with at least one person (unless you’re a huge fan of self-checkouts and they -always- work for you).  Why not set some goals regarding networking?  It’s not hard, and you’d be surprised how something this simple can be incredibly fulfilling and rewarding.

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