Networking in Surrey News - week beginning 25 October 2010

So - is this unseasonably mild, sunny weather a case (geddit?) of 'Last of the Summer Wine'? The final opportunity perhaps, to quaff a glass or two of chilled Sauvignon Blanc out on the patio (albeit in our balaclavas) before the clocks go back this weekend (don't forget!) Whatever the weather, it's certainly peak networking season out there, and if the number of events on NiS is anything to go by, the networking boom shows no signs of running out of steam anytime soon ...

We regularly list lots of FREE events on NiS - such as these, coming up in the next couple of weeks:
FREE Access Business Expo, Twickenham
FREE First Friday Lunchtime Networking, Guildford
FREE LinkedIn Surrey Networkers Evening, Woking
In fact since we launched the site at the beginning of the year we've featured no fewer than 61 free events in Surrey - comfortably more than one a week.

You'll find most of the established groups in our Regular Group Meetings section - BNI, BRX, Ladies at 11, 4Networking (with all the Surrey events and dates on one page!), Venture Catalyst - with more being added as I get the time (gotta get 'em all!) I've found over 80 active networking groups in Surrey so far...
One-off and occasional events are essential and welcome guests in our featured EVENTS listings and NiS Member Elaine Hickmott has just posted the next FREE Surrey Style bash in mid-November at the Burford Bridge in Dorking (it's in my own diary already, Elaine!)

Many thanks to the Surrey networking 'great and good' who are recommending the site to their groups and contacts, such as NiS Members Shân Hughes, Stuart Ritchie (Venture Catalyst & BNI mover and shaker) and Catherine Jackson, who emailed her LG Networking Members to say: "It was great to catch up with Keith Grover from Networking in Surrey (at the free LG event in Weybridge this week) and hear about all the exciting developments he's making with this fantastic networking resource." High praise indeed from a 'High Priestess' of networking... :-)

Why not do your own contacts a favour and let them know about using NiS as a free time-and-money-saving resource to plan their diary? And maybe even suggest they join our community, now that it's free too. You could simply dash off a quick email by cutting and pasting this 'You might like to check out his useful free website I've joined:- NetworkingInSurrey.com.'
We've had a raft of new Members this week, some old friends of mine and some new, including Richard Plumb, Ollie Rastall, Alan Hiscox, Clive Wilson, Max Wright, Sean Usher, Nicky Rudd, Glen O'Dwyer, Wendy Ager, Helen Colechin, Richard Golding, Barry Sears, Matthew Simmons, Alan Rogers, Daphne Diluce , Rhiannon Ford and Colleen Guy, taking us up to 217 in total. Networking in Berkshire is crashing through the 350 barrier right about now, and even new kid on the block Networking in Bucks is into double figures (just! :-)

Diary of a Networker...
It's been a manic couple of weeks, but fantastic fun! I attended this month's free Business Biscotti event at Wentworth Golf Club, and while staying on for lunch in the Members' Bar with organiser Tina Williams and Christine Chalklin, we were invited by the Club to attend a champagne and canapes reception promoting Wentworth as a venue. That was last Wednesday, and it turned out there was a catering hall with live operatic singers and unlimited free gourmet food including Thai, Indian and a sushi bar where we were virtually force-fed oysters and champagne. To cap it all, we each went home with a goodie bag containing a bottle of Wentworth champagne and a box of chocs - not a bad result just from having turned up to a free networking event!

I also very much enjoyed the Meet Caterham Business Expo. As you go eastwards in the county, networking opportunities seem to be thinner on the ground, so I'm pleased to see so many of our new Members are from 'way out east'! At the opposite end of Surrey, John Udal's bestof Camberley Expo was a triumph, and the Weybridge Ecademy meeting on Monday (which I flagged up in a special NiS bulletin which several of you responded to by coming along) featured Penny Power, Ecademy Founder and inspirational speaker on 'Creating the Digital Mindset' using Social Media and other online tools. As an added bonus, hubby Thomas came along as her 'driver' (a bit subdued as he was nursing a broken thumb, but even a subdued Thomas is still firing on more cylinders than most of us ever manage).
Tonight I'm off to a consultative meeting with Elmbridge Council's Business Team to discuss forming a Weybridge Business Network - I'll report back next time... and lastly, please don't miss Andrew Widgery's Business Scene Surrey Connections evening in Guildford nest week, featuring 4Networking Founder, Brad Burton.
Happy Networking!
BRs
K