More Mariela! (Is There Ever Enough?)

Mariela Dabbah's workshop on networking skills was a success mostly because of the way people felt after the event was over. Empowered, confident and ready to network productively.

I say productively because as Mariela points out, if you go to a "networking event" and you walk away with a stack a cards, is that really productive? It would be, if you're able to follow up with all of them. If you can remember who they all were.

Instead, getting to know a few people and really finding out what they're about is key. Not just to get something from them but to see what you can do for them. I know, it will take a while to get used to. Resource Networking is the concept of getting to knowing people beyond the transactional aspect of the relationship. It doesn't happen overnight and there isn't always an immediate payoff, but eventually there is one. Rod Colon refers to it as the "Known Network." Same idea. More on Resource Networking soon.

Mariela's workshop on Networking Skills showed us how to use our Hispanic-ness to our advantage. HPNG is planning on a follow-up workshop with Mariela soon. This time it will be an evening event instead of a half-day morning event. Stay tuned, make sure you're on the HPNG mailing list.

Check out the video with workshop highlights: http://www.marieladabbah.com/reel/index.htm

Also directly on Mariela's website