Great mixer last night at Tahoe Joe’s. Met a ton of new people that joined. This was so great that you don’t want to miss the July Mega Mixer!

Thanks to Dave at Tahoe Joe’s for a great mixer with great food!

We had a great time at the Business Showcase on Thursday. After more than 30 years the Pleasant Hill chamber still knows how to do it.

Check out the fun at Outback at the February mixer in Pleasant Hill:

join us in March for the Mega Mixer in Martinez. check the Chamber web site for more!

I usually hate to use the word “networking” because in my mind it brings up mental images of that smarmy guy at the mixer that uses such worn out things like “win-win” and will then “task you” with something. So I was very happy when one of my favorite educators decided to do a video education thingy on networking!

Karen Frank is a long time wordsmith/branding/networking type person that really gets it when it comes to meeting people and knowing whom to spend time with. She is also a grammar queen so I am sure I will get a call about my sentence structure.

Please take the time to check out her video about networking.

I had a rather interesting discussion with a chamber member and this person was a bit mystified by the fact that networks evolve and change. It occurred to me that in these challenging times we may not be paying attention to the networks that helped us two years ago and as such they may have collapsed.

One of the best analogies about networking is it is akin to farming, not hunting. As such any farmer will tell you that you must tend to your farm or for those of use on a smaller scale, you must tend your garden or what you plant won’t be what you harvest. Even in the best of circumstances you can’t always get what you want… but if you try some times… (insert Rolling Stones song here) but I digress!

Back to the networking: as time goes by you need to make sure that the people you network with are around and still doing what they were when you met. I have been amazed at how fast things are changing right now. You may be surprised at how many people have changed what they are doing just in the last month! Not only that but staying up on someones radar is important for future referrals. Either way, if they move jobs and you lose track you won’t be able to count on them in your network.

So take some time to check on people around you. Just to make sure they are still there!