I’m tired of networking. I do like being invited to things. I enjoy catching up with people I know. I love meeting new people (especially when they just want a friendly chat and are not trying to ‘sell’ to me). And I get 98% of my business via people I know.
However, I just received yet another leaflet promoting an event as ‘an opportunity to network’.
Networking (or ‘notworking’) has got itself a bad name through over-use (so has ‘solutions’ as a business name or in product copy. If I see that one more time I’ll scream. Oh look, there it is again. ARRRGH!)
Some people claim that networking is ‘not about sitting around having a nice chat’. Oh, isn’t it?
My definition of networking is ‘meeting people and having fun’. Because if you don’t enjoy it, there’s no point.