Top 10 tips for networking during the summer
Tours TravelCommon sense might suggest that summer is a bad time to make new business connections: people have gone on vacation, are out of town on weekends, and there are fewer business events to attend. However, summer is actually a great time to develop new connections and deepen current ones. People are more relaxed and not so busy. And there’s no reason you can’t have fun while connecting with others!
Here are some ideas that will hopefully inspire you to take advantage of the summer to get out of the office and grow your network:
Get tickets to a sporting event and invite people you’d like to get to know better. A baseball game? If you like tennis, how about the US Open at the end of August? Drinks at a sports bar for soccer fans? Invite people who don’t know each other so they can expand their networks.
Have lunch at a quaint outdoor restaurant with a business friend. The Boathouse at Central Park, Rock Center Cafe, and Café St. Barts are convenient in midtown Manhattan. If you are in the city center, Southstreet Seaport and World Financial Center have fantastic waterfront restaurants; Visit http://www.riverToriverNYC.com to see a wide variety of events downtown. If you can, go for a late lunch and take the rest of the day off.
Fishing? Golf? Hiking? Shakespeare in the park?
Attend charity and company events: golf outings, picnics, sailing, softball games. Don’t worry if you’re not good at the activity: think about the PR value of winning the award for worst scorer (spoken from firsthand experience).
Join a committee or volunteer to host a program for a non-profit or professional organization – Summer is when events for the fall and spring are planned and is a great way to build your brand.
Host a brown bag breakfast or dinner for friends, former colleagues, or people you know with a particular interest; Ask each person to bring another person. Meet at a park or someone’s house with a backyard or balcony.
Back to School: If you have children from pre-K through college, you will likely have the opportunity to meet other parents at school orientations, moving day, etc.
Contact a job seeker (or accept a network request from someone who has contacted you); they are likely well connected thanks to your job search efforts.
Too hot? It’s great inside Broadway shows, concert halls, and museums. If your group is all female, how about a day or half day at a spa?
Have fun! All work and no play makes a boring person. When business events kick off in the fall and someone asks how your summer was, you’ll have something interesting to say.
Wishing you a productive and fun rest of your summer,
© 2007 Laura Hill