As you network more, you will often become the person people ask about where to network. Of course, you can and should give recommendations. But it can be even more effective to go together.

Obviously, it’s an opportunity to get some face time and deepen a relationship, but you don’t want to spend too much time together. Working a room is much easier as a team than alone. Unless an event is poorly attended, it’s difficult to talk to everyone. Going with a friend allows you to cover twice as much ground.

As with any other networking event, set some goals. The fun part is that you can set goals together. One of the easiest is that one of you might be interested in meeting with a particular person who often attends that event. If that person is present, one of you can make an introduction.

Perhaps your buddy wants to meet someone from a particular industry. You can work the room with that in mind. If you find someone appropriate, you can find (or make) an opportunity to introduce them.

Other than being able to cover twice as much ground, the biggest advantage to working a room together is that it’s easier to talk about someone else than yourself. When you meet that person who is just perfect for your buddy, you can say something like, “You know, I came to this event with someone you need to meet. She’s looking to network with people in your industry, and I’d really like to introduce you.”

Since most people come to an event with the goal of meeting new people, this approach usually works well. When you get the two of them together, you can say a few words about each to ease the introduction. Perhaps your buddy has had some real success in this particular area. You can tell her story, and it will be received better than if she told it yourself. Third party testimonials always have more credibility.

Your buddy, of course, can do the same for you. After the meeting, you can reconvene to compare notes. Did you both get a good vibe off a particular person? Perhaps you heard something in a conversation that your buddy didn’t. Did you both have a bad vibe off someone? Comparing notes can help you both focus on why you didn’t like the person.

Odds are you’ll both accomplish more than if you attended the event separately.

Tags: Giving, Networking, Networking Events, Relationship building

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 6:45 am and is filed under Networking Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.