Video Killed the Radio Star - will it kill Live Networking?

Spring is definitely in the air, as we approach the end of May (and you guessed it, yet another Bank Holiday!) For now though, it's a full working week with a host of networking meetings, in-person and online, listed on our site.

The original premise of Networking in Surrey when we launched some 12 years ago (I know!) was listing local in-person networking events to help Surrey-based businesses connect and engage with each other face to face.

In this post-Pandemic era, there are unquestionably more virtual networking meetings than in-person ones out there in Networkland.  The convenience of attending from the comfort of your own office (or kitchen table!) and the freedom from geographical limitations (time zone differences notwithstanding) mean that we now all have a cornucopia of networking events at our disposal, and many are free or low-cost, with zero travelling time or expense.

It's deffo a buyer's market - frustratingly so for the live networking events organisers, many of whom have spent years building up their in-person groups until Covid pulled the rug out from under them.

And yet... if you look carefully at your own networks, I'm guessing that in most cases you'll find the majority of your connections are with people you have met face to face - and that these are also most likely going to introduce and refer you to local prospects and customers.

This is a historical phenomenon - our networks were not formed overnight - we've spent years developing them in the pre-Pandemic world. 

Video is not a 'natural medium' of engagement between humans (after all, it killed the Radio Star, as any Buggle will tell you :0)  We're all still getting used to this upstart virtual networking after millennia of meeting in-person around the campfire or breakfast table. 

And look - of the events with full-page listings on Networking in Surrey next week, 8 are Live! and 6 online.

Isn't that interesting?