Networking in Surrey News – week beginning 15 November

‘Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness’ as Keats would have it (or fog and frost, if you prefer a more accurate picture today!) Either way, there’s plenty of festive networking in the pipeline to ‘warm the cockles’, where you can promote and grow your business by building your connections and getting your face out there.

Talking of faces, are you one of the 15% of NiS Members yet to post your photo to your My Page profile? I can't make you a Featured Member if you're a blue silhouette! If you need a hand with it, please let me know – especially new Members, of whom we have another lovely fresh batch this week, including Neville Godwin, Steve Barnett, Sally Burrough, Paul Vass, Samantha New-Fielding (top metworker!), Jacqui O'Shea, Rowan Johnson, Samantha Farrow, Kay Angell, Nicola Orr, Clare Price and Ian Pitchford - welcome!

That takes us to over 270 Members now – next milestone 300, as we chase down Berkshire with 380, and Chris and I haven’t given up on our aim of 1000 members by New Year’s Eve. Onward and upward!

Site visits again hit a new NiS record with over 850 unique visitors in the last month – and dear old Google Analytics shows over 97% of them were from the UK. This means we are getting focused traffic interested in local businesses - which makes advertising with us phenomenal value if you have an event or offer to promote, or just want to raise your profile among hundreds of businesses who are networking in Surrey. Watch out for a separate NiS Bulletin tomorrow with some great offers for advertisers...

Events later this week include the free LadiesWhoLatte Epsom Launch with Yvonne Stone, the free Reigate and Redhill Tweet-up with NiS Members Alan Rogers, Veronica Pullen and David Thackray all intending to be there, and Friday's Woking Chamber Lunch.

Diary of a Networker...
I’ve been off to Foxhills this evening for another of their fun sessions (with terrific food!) to see the multi-talented Geoff Chapman demonstrating aerial photography and indoor aerobatics – spectacularly different from your average networking event! At the end of the session a bewildered minicab driver wandered into the Clubhouse having got lost in the fog and stuck on the golf course on or near the 18th green, asking for a shovel to dig himself out... you’ve never seen Foxhills’ Jean-Marc move so fast! Tessa Hood, and the ‘Jelly Women’ - Lyn French (who’s running the free Caterham Jelly tomorrow) and Hazel McLellan were there. I’d seen them last week along with Andrew Widgery and Mike Loughton, at Bob Gardner’s LinkedIn Surrey Networkers busy free session at the lovely Lightbox in Woking. Smart venue, dynamic speaker and a great turnout, despite the ghastly weather (mellow fruitfulness? pah!)

On Thursday I’m heading across the border into Bucks for NiB Member Jon Davey’s free Social Media Directors day, where I’ll be spreading the gospel about our new Networking in Bucks site. Then it’s back onto home turf that evening for either the free Surrey Chambers bash at Foxhills with Louise Punter, or Elaine Hickmott’s free Surrey Style evening in Dorking – truly spoilt for choice! And on Friday morning I’ll be Guest Host at 4Networking Walton, standing in for Group Leader Sharon Endersby – wish me luck :0)

Happy Networking!