Accelerate(her) presents: Professional Networking with Purpose

Professional networking events are engaging and rewarding opportunities to develop relationships with others. Attending professional networking events in person provides opportunities to meet and talk with key stakeholders and new connections that are generally inaccessible elsewhere, especially when talking about the government contracting industry. Depending on the type of networking (personal, professional, informational, educational, corporate, etc.) the means of measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) can vary. Approaching professional networking strategically using a consistent process and objective set of criteria to measure impact at key touch points, results in measurable ROI on networking events both personally and professionally.

I have developed a process with a repeatable series of steps to take before, during, and after every networking event to measure and improve on ROI. The process I’ve developed can be applied to any type of networking event and can be adapted to in person as well as virtual events. It can be deployed as part of a corporate event strategy, utilized if exhibiting at an event or if attending an event and is industry agnostic. Although it was developed for the government contracting industry, the process can be applied to networking events in any industry and will result in continuously improved outcomes for those that employ it.

The process for extracting measurable value from networking events, of any kind includes creating an event plan with goals and metrics and deploying a consistent media presence ahead of time as well as at the event and afterwards to drive interest among the event organizers, fellow attendees, exhibitors, and speakers. During this presentation I’ll discuss some strategies to capitalize on any networking event you plan to attend by using your social presence to drive awareness of your attendance. I’ll give specific examples of how leverage social media, social research, and thought leadership to create a greater impact.

Key takeaways will include how to reach event organizers, exhibitors, and attendees ahead of the event to build awareness and excitement about event attendance. How to draw attention to your attendance at the event so people seek you out. And how to maintain interest and build meaningful relationships with event contacts using follow-up commentary to drive conversations.

This webinar is designed to help you start thinking about your personal brand and provide you with practical steps on how to start building and communicating both online and offline, who you are, what you do, what your core strengths and skills are as well as the value you can bring to a company.