lowtek
Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
Going to have to respectfully disagree here. I wasted so many hours at these networking events...
Most of the time, they are attended by the following (which you pointed out as well):
1) Insurance salesmen
2) Financial advisers
3) Real estate agents
4) Purveyors of fine MLM schemes
You will occasionally find serious people, but they are the exception rather than the rule. What isn't the exception, and what MJ alluded to, is that every one is there to sell you on their service. It's a massive circle jerk, and the only winning move is not to play.
If you're going to join a networking group, it should be something exclusive. I was invited to check out Eliances, here in Phoenix, which is a fairly upscale group of folks. Biggest opportunity that came out of that was a serious invitation for me to join the board of a new bank, and the invitation came from a serious former state politician. I declined, as I'm not the banker type, but it immediately became apparent to me that the group had merit. They filtered out the aforementioned groups.
Though, we did still get some riff raff. At one point some folks came in with the claim they had a "zero point energy" device, i.e. a perpetual motion machine. I was respectful and didn't scream at them, but it kind of killed the group for me.
I now avoid networking events, unless it's just to get out of the house and socialize with people. It's a much different experience with that mindset, and in that case I don't consider it a waste of time.
Most of the time, they are attended by the following (which you pointed out as well):
1) Insurance salesmen
2) Financial advisers
3) Real estate agents
4) Purveyors of fine MLM schemes
You will occasionally find serious people, but they are the exception rather than the rule. What isn't the exception, and what MJ alluded to, is that every one is there to sell you on their service. It's a massive circle jerk, and the only winning move is not to play.
If you're going to join a networking group, it should be something exclusive. I was invited to check out Eliances, here in Phoenix, which is a fairly upscale group of folks. Biggest opportunity that came out of that was a serious invitation for me to join the board of a new bank, and the invitation came from a serious former state politician. I declined, as I'm not the banker type, but it immediately became apparent to me that the group had merit. They filtered out the aforementioned groups.
Though, we did still get some riff raff. At one point some folks came in with the claim they had a "zero point energy" device, i.e. a perpetual motion machine. I was respectful and didn't scream at them, but it kind of killed the group for me.
I now avoid networking events, unless it's just to get out of the house and socialize with people. It's a much different experience with that mindset, and in that case I don't consider it a waste of time.