Professional Networking

Last week, I attended two different seminars on Professional Networking. One was delivered by a business man, the second by a professor in Instructional Psychology and Technology. Unfortunately, the first seminar into a sales pitch for a new Facebook application. The second provided good tips for networking at professional conferences. One thing that both presenters agreed about was the usefulness of Facebook as a professional networking tool, which surprised me.


After the second presentation, everyone in the room partitioned off into small groups. They were networking. Being a naturally shy person, I looked around the room for a group to join, but couldn't think of way to "break in" to any of the conversations in progress, so I got more refreshments to buy time. I started thinking about the online connections I've made by contacting the authors of blogs that I follow. I feel like I'm better at online social networking than I am at face-to-face social networking. Still, in a moment a friend came over to me and we lamented our waste of a networking opportunity. I mentioned that most of the people in the room didn't share my research interests. My friend and I, both former k12 teachers, share a common interest in k12 education, which sets us apart from the corporate training and higher-education focus of most of our peers. Soon, she and I had the seed of a collaborative project to begin in April. Maybe I'm not so good at making new face to face contacts, but the ones I make are good ones.