I'm over at Babes In Bookland today offering my bit on this week' topic: Tips on Attending Conferences. My fellow Babes covered most of the territory, but I managed to offer something useful. I hope. For those not inclined to click over, I decided to share my post here. If you find this helpful at all, you may then want to click over to glean more conference tips from the other Babes. See my thoughts below the banner....
I’m not copping out, I swear. But this is another one of those instances where being the last to post on a topic means having nothing more to add. My fellow Babes have covered everything I would have touched on regarding Tips on Attending a Conference and then some.
Instead, I’m going to zone in on one word: Networking. As a somewhat shy person, that word used to make me cringe. Then I stumbled upon a fantastic book and realized that, by just being me, I was actually pretty darn good at networking. That book is: Power Networking – 55 Secrets for Personal & Professional Success (By: Donna Fisher and Sandy Vilas). Here’s what they offered that helped me to put networking in perspective.
Networking is not:
* Selling
* Using people strictly for your gain
* Coercing or manipulating someone to do what you want
* Putting friends or associates on the spot
* Badgering people about your business
Networking is:
* The process of gathering, collecting, and distributing information for the mutual benefit of you and the people in your network
* The genuine expression of interest in others and the willingness to contribute and support them when possible
* Giving as well as getting information
You get the drift. And that’s just a teeny fraction of what this book has to offer. I’ll leave you with that recommended reading as well as my overall tip on attending any conference....
Be gracious, genuine, courteous, and above all, generous. Expect nothing in return and you’ll be rewarded tenfold.
**********
WRITING: Devoted last night to 'book' promotion. Spent many hours creating useful widgets for my blog and website, plus joined and created a page at Facebook.
RECREATION: None.
EXERCISE: Upped my power walk to forty minutes. Walked at 6pm, but man it was still hot... and humid. I made it though!
DIET: I'm being super good this week. Lots of veggies!
MOOD: Energized.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Promote yourself but do not demote another." --Israel Salanter
www.bethciotta.com
"...enchanting, madcap romance..." Publisher Weekly
"...wry humor; sexy, multifaceted characters..." Booklist
