Finding Networking Events

Posted by Al on May 8th, 2008 .

I’ve done a couple of posts highlighting the benefits of networking, especially in person. In this post I want to share a few ideas on finding networking opportunities.

  • Attend trade shows and events related to your niche
    There are trade shows for just about everything, for me I visit Vegas each year for CES, various shows in London (Stuff Show, Ideal Home, various inventor events, etc).
  • Attend expos related to your business model
    There are various expos for bloggers, affiliate marketeers, SEO, entrepeneurs and more. At these you’ll be able to learn from the speakers but even more from networking with other attendees.
  • Contact other bloggers
    Many bloggers post about places they are due to visit, if you’re in the vicinity get in touch and see if they fancy a meetup, this is how I met Romanian super blogger Bobby Voicu, he got in touch with me when I said I was in London for the LG event.
  • Local user groups
    Many towns and cities have usergroups for different interests, these often have a monthky physical meeting. One which I’m looking at joining is the Nottingham LUG (Linux User Group), ‘m not that familiar with Linux but as a number of my servers are running it I should be, so what better way to learn and get advice.
  • Organise one your self
    If your blog/site has a decent audience or you’re an active forum poster you cpost the question and see who’s interested. I’ve done this a couple of times via Digital Point forums. ‘m still up for doing a Midlands one in the UK over the summer (if interested leave a comment).
  • Press events
    Contact the press office of companies n your niche and ask to be sent any press releases. A lot of forward thinking companies throw events especially for bloggers, this is a cool way to meet the faces behind the products and other bloggers with the same interests as you.

This is the first blog post I’ve ever made whilst sitting the garden, so if you reckon I’ve missed anything please share in a comment.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 and is filed under Miscellaneous . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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12 Comments »

Comment by Patrick Altoft from BlogStorm Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-08 14:45:52

A midlands event would be great. Do you play golf? I always wanted to do an seo/bloggers golf tournament.

Comment by Al from Al Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-08 15:03:48

I don’t play golf but I wouldn’t mind learning, probably best not to at a tournament though :) . Do you want to post about the idea on Blog Storm and see how iterested people we can find?

 
 
2008-05-08 17:32:41

[...] May 8, 2008 Filed under: Uncategorized — halosecretarialservices @ 11:32 am This post from Self Made Minds was a great one about networking.  I find it interesting that on my va boards [...]

 
Comment by Laurie from Networking Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-08 17:33:46

Wonderful post - thanks for sharing!!

 
Comment by Gaj from UK Gadgets Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-09 10:44:13

Great post and its a great idea and if you need any help organising let me know. Most of the events have always been in London and I have to say its really expensive and time consuming to travel to, so the Midlands will be much better.

Patrick I don’t live far from you maybe we should meet up sometime. I don’t play golf, but have been to the driving range a few times - great for stress relief.

Comment by Matthew from GadgetVenue Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-09 12:08:44

Driving ranges are cool! I haven’t been for a while but used to go a fair bit to Tong and Shadwell Wyke around Leeds.

 
 
Comment by Gaj from UK Gadgets Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-09 13:03:47

Well thats not far from me either. Are you still in Leeds? Maybe we could arrange a small gathering in Leeds

Comment by Matthew from GadgetVenue Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-09 20:29:17

I live in Bradford and work in Leeds. I originally am from Horsforth and now am in Eccleshill.

 
 
Comment by Stefanie from Vat19 Unique Gifts
2008-05-09 21:15:35

“Romanian Super Blogger” - If that isn’t a cool title, I don’t know what is.

 
Comment by Gaj from UK Gadgets Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-09 22:32:14

Mathew, Thats brilliant, I work in Bradford too. Get in touch with me through the gaj-it.com site.

Al, sorry for having this chat here but thanks for bringing this topic up (seems like there is a few people here in the North that could meet up). At least we’re practicing whats been mentioned above :)

Comment by Al from Al Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-09 22:57:33

LOL, no probs at all Gaj, Matthew is a very cool guy and I’ll also be on for any meet-up there. Coincidentally I was conceived in Bradford, bizarre or what :)

Comment by Gaj from UK Gadgets Subscribed to comments via email
2008-05-12 08:51:57

I’m going to look into getting something organised then, I’ll try and think of a few ideas of things to do here in Leeds or Manchester – hopefully something a bit more than a drink.

Any suggestions are welcome e.g. go karting, golf, a boat trip, an adventure trip to Go Ape or something…

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