Networking in Surrey News – week beginning 30 July 2012

Well, I loved it... that wacky Games Opening Ceremony, complete with clips from 1960s black & white sitcoms, Mr Bean in Chariots of Fire, the ‘Baked Bean’ parachuting in with James Bond, and a good old singalong finale around the piano with Macca and Hey Jude... and millions around the globe scratching their heads and asking, ‘What’s all that about then?’ A triumph, in true British style - if you can’t beat ‘em, confuse ‘em!

With things a little quieter than usual on the networking front, there was no Friday NiS Bulletin last week, although of course all the Regular Group Meetings carry on regardless of the Olympics and the summer hols. The likes of BNI, 4Networking, Business for Breakfast, BoB Clubs etc and the wonderful women’s groups are the bedrock of the networking community, and you can always invite yourself along for a trial meeting as part of your overall networking game plan.

You do have a game plan, don’t you? Well, if you’d like to get better return on your investments of time and money in business networking, read on... We’ve just added a networking skills element to our NiS+ Membership offering, in the form of one-to-one consultations to help you define and implement a sound networking strategy.

If you’d like to find out more in person, please come along to one of my Working Lunch sessions over the next few weeks. You’re invited to join me for an informal group discussion and ideas share over lunch, and pick my brains about which groups would be worth you trying out, and how best to exploit the networking possibilities that are out there.

The sessions are free - but lunch isn't included! You order whatever you fancy, or just have a drink, and join in. The first session will follow on from the free morning Business Biscotti session in Cobham on Tuesday 7 August, so you can combine some sociable networking and a working lunch!

I’ll be staying on at the Fairmile to deliver two workshops in the afternoon. The first is a ‘Networking Skills Masterclass’ – sharing tricks and tips for effective networking online and offline. The second is ‘Get More Customers Now!’, a practical marketing workshop with particular emphasis on the free Google+ Local business pages facility (formerly called Google Places) and how you can use it to bring in new business to your website. Both workshops have an Early Bird discount price of just £12.50 – so don’t miss out, book in now!

Diary of a Networker...

Since the last NiS newsmail a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been out and about in Networkland as usual, meeting lots of lovely NiS Members. With over 1,000 in our community now, it’s pretty hard to avoid you guys – not that I’d want to, of course! :0)

The Linked In Surrey Networkers Group (why not join it for free, if you haven’t already?) had its second real-world meetup at the Lightbox in Woking, organised by NiS Member and group leader Bob Gardner, where I had pleasant catch-up conversations with old chums Max Wright, Karen MacPhee, Mike Loughton and Ian Hamilton.

Despite the dodgy weather confining us to the marquee (and the bar :0) I also very much enjoyed the friendly FSB ‘Have Your Say’ BBQ at Windlesham Golf Club with Jane Hardy, Dan Smale, Charles Barbor, Ian Kent, Roy Forstner and Sylvia Bryden, among others. Chatting with Jeremy Webb, David Denovan-Smith and the soon-to-retire Derek Hawkins at Trafford Elmbridge Group dinner at Woodlands Park was as thoroughly civilised as ever, and the following evening’s free Surrey Chambers ‘Meet the Team’ event at Horsley Towers was the customary convivial affair, shared with Stewart Graham, Sarah Edwards, Andrew Myall and Amanda Masters.

You may have noticed several stunning venues on my list – I do find networking in magnificent surroundings always adds a certain something to the experience (and the catering’s usually superb too :0) That list continues with the Leatherhead Chamber breakfast at Denby’s Vineyard, Dorking, where I met up with Jeremy Webb and Becky Patmore, and where Social Media megastar Damon Segal was the main attraction – a superb presentation! I was at the relaunch of Walton & Weybridge Biscotti at The Swan (a lovely riverside location) with Sonia Duggan and Peter Dixon, and the relaunch of Weybridge Ecademy for Pimm’s and strawberries in the manor house at Brooklands College with David Simpson, Thomas & Penny Power, David Shaw and Maurice Watts. Relaunches’R’Us!

And finally (bong!) I had a great 1-2-1 meeting with Paul Webster in glorious sunshine on the terrace outside the manor house at Foxhills Golf Club & Spa, where the Team GB Cyclists were holed up to chillax before their efforts. Paul brought me up to speed with plans for the revamped Woking Means Business Expo in early October, and the new venue for the Guildford Show (watch this space!)

After all that networking, I’m doing a bit of chillaxing myself this week – not skiving off to watch the Olympics, perish the thought (well not much, anyway :0)

Happy Networking!

PS Remember to grab the Earlybirds on my two Workshops next week! They’re actually free to NiS+ Members, so if you were thinking of attending both, and you join NiS+ now, you’ll have recouped the majority of your first quarter’s sub in one day... just a thought!