Networking: Stop Working the Room

Networking: Stop working the room

Too many networking experts tell you to “work the room”. Stop doing that. It feels slimy for you and the people who you “work”. Is that the first impression that you want to imprint on contacts in your network? That they just been “worked”? How do you like it when you have been “worked”?

It’s not that those misguided networking experts mean ill for you. They are just telling you what they did and perhaps they got used to feeling slimy. That’s what often happens when one doesn’t know better or stop to think about what they are doing. They just rationalize it with mantras like, “no pain, no gain”. Sometimes slimy people are not bad - they just stop thinking or caring about how they appear to others.

Networking is not about working the room or working people. Networking is about building relationships that are mutually productive.

Networks are built on trust.

Networking is built on relationships.

Networking is built by connecting with people.

Networking is about people – not rooms. And people don’t like to be worked.

Otherwise you might as well just enter the room – shout your name for all to hear then throw you business cards into the air – and then leave with a flourish. You worked the room and let everyone know how little you thought of them. And you did nothing to build a strong network.

Sometimes the event organizers force you to work the room in their attempt to fool you regarding the real value of the networking event. They announce the game – In the next five minutes give your business card to as many people as you can. What a stupid game. If you wanted to do that you would have been better to place an ad in the newspaper. Networking is more about quality then it is about quantity. Networking is not about giving out your business cards to everyone in the room. Networking is not about collecting everyone's business card. That's not networking.

Networking is about building a network of people you know and trust and who know and trust you.

Stop working the room. Start networking.

The next time some "networking expert" tells you to work the room – tell them. “I didn’t come here for the room. I want to connect with people.”


George Torok

Promote Brand You

Personal Marketing

Networking Guide to Success