3 Weird Places to Business Network

GordonMiller
GordonMiller
Founding Member

Posted: Sep 15, 07 5:20am

I just read a short piece in The Onion about networking at a CEO's funeral. Its very funny. It got me thinking about the weird places I've been successful doing business networking over the years.

*Therapist reception area--several years ago I was seeing a therapist about a couple issues. While waiting for my appointment, I met a couple other executives who were doing the same. It turned into a business networking discussion. I made some new connections and received some great info related to my business.

* Strip club--a good friend of mine was writing a book about a baseball player who had an addiction to strippers. He asked me to go with him to a local club to help him do some research(no, really, this is a true story). We ended up at a table with a bunch of other business guys. I ended up creating a strategic business alliance with one of the men.

* Shower room--just recently, while siting in the sauna with a bunch of strangers at the athletic club I belong to, we broke into a full-fledged networking discussion. More intros ensued.

How about you? Any weird places you've done some business networking?

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5 Comments // 6 Members
RobinWolaner
RobinWolaner
Staff

Posted: Sep 15, 07 7:22am

I just read a short piece in The Onion about <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/ceos_funeral_a_network...

Women's restrooms have been my favorite. (Perhaps Larry Craig could have claimed this to get out of his recent trouble :)) I once had a job that came complete with my personal bathroom suite, and I think that led to my being less-effective, as a source of information was cut off.

neat
neat
Founding Member

Posted: Sep 15, 07 3:55pm

Women's restrooms have been my favorite. (Perhaps Larry Craig could have claimed this to get out of his recent trouble ...

Women's restrooms have been an excellent source of networking and info for me, too. Once, when I was a delegate to a political convention and was super busy, I was even approached by a reporter and gave an interview in a restroom.

Tom Harris
Tom Harris
Founding Member

Posted: Sep 17, 07 2:51pm

I just read a short piece in The Onion about <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/ceos_funeral_a_network...

In the middle of nowhere. My wife and I were horseback riding through some rough trails in some pretty mean mountainous terrain when we came upon a man and his wife hiking. We stopped, rested the horses and started talking with them. During the next 30 minutes, we had made new friends who, next year, became clients.

JanetRyan
JanetRyan
Staff

Posted: Sep 17, 07 3:54pm

I just read a short piece in The Onion about <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/ceos_funeral_a_network...

Spa vacations. I have often gone to Rancho La Puerta in Mexico for a week of exercise and R&R and have met so many smart business people there. Two have become clients, many more customers, and the first time I went, over 12 years ago, I met the guy who is still my tax accountant today. Go figure.

I also have met consulting clients at the dog park...the kind where you let your pets off leash, not dog racing parks. I chat with all the other dog folks, and have made some friendships that became business relationships from those conversations. Of course, its not efficient networking...I'm there an hour a day for years, exercising the dogs, so return on investment in a business sense is pretty low:-)

LoraMa
LoraMa
Staff

Posted: Sep 17, 07 6:20pm

I just read a short piece in The Onion about <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/ceos_funeral_a_network...

Recently, my husband and I were at the car wash (one of those where you leave your car with an army of workers and you wait inside where there's air conditioning) and he ran into a colleague from work. Well, they got to chit chatting and now they're going to work on a project together.