BoldHER Virtual Networking Event: The Future of Networking

Networking allows you to connect with people across the globe and form new and mutually beneficial relationships, so I took the plunge and attended BoldHER’s virtual networking event last week. 

I am in the process of starting my own freelancing business, providing copywriting and social media management services to small businesses. Considering self employment, it is a must to network whether it is to learn more about the industry or to attract new clients.

The evening started with a quick introduction from board members about BoldHER and then we were separated into smaller groups. Zoom has an option where the host can place people into different “rooms,” this feature is particularly helpful when you have a large group of people in a meeting and the goal is to interact with each other. A pop-up will appear on the screen that gives you the option to accept or decline moving into a different “room.” Once you accept, you enter another video call with a new group of people. 

When I entered Room 4, there were three other people. One of them was a board member who led the conversation. We were asked to each give our name and occupation followed by a fun question like “what is your hidden talent” or a random topic we knew a lot about.

We all went around and introduced ourselves and to my surprise, everyone was super engaging and the conversation flowed really well. I have been to virtual events before where there was a lot of awkward silence and no one was talking, but this group didn’t have that problem at all. It helped that BoldHER had a board member in each group who led the conversation and asked questions when we were done talking about a topic.

When it was my turn, I talked about how I consider myself an “expert” on travel in Italy since I used to sell vacations there. Everyone on the call wanted to talk about Italy and we even made a joke that this conversation could just be about Italy if we wanted it to be. I almost forgot how fun it is to just sit around and talk about travel and hear other people’s travel plans. 

One of the group members asked if everyone liked working from home or if they would prefer a hybrid option - working in the office a couple times a week and then from home on others. Everyone shared their thoughts, and the consensus was that people want to have the option to choose if they work from home or go into an office. This led us into the question of, “how are you networking these days?”

One of the members mentioned how exhausting always being on her computer/phone is and how she finds herself too tired to answer even personal calls from people during her downtime after work these days. I feel that. Another member said she finds it difficult to network now. I mentioned that I recently joined a Performance gym to push myself to get out of the house more. I have found a whole new community of people there, all working on bettering themselves and that has helped me immensely. One member talked about her morning journaling routine, and I took notes, as I am always trying to up my morning routine to be more productive. 

This conversation really got me thinking about the future of networking. Before the pandemic, networking was easy because you were able to connect with the people in your office, networking events were held in person, and maybe you went out after work with coworkers for happy hour. These days, it’s easy to only interact virtually with your direct team and managers. 

Before the pandemic, I honestly never would have thought to attend a “virtual networking event.” It never would have crossed my mind. But now, here I am, seeking out these connections with people that I miss in this virtual world many of us now live in. 

Don’t get me wrong; I love the flexibility of working from home and the better work/life balance I have these days. But, I do miss human connection and learning from others. We can read all the blogs we want, but you just can’t beat actually having a conversation with someone and bouncing off ideas from one another. Plus, the fact that we can now connect with people from all over the world, in different states, in different time zones, with the click of a button and a wifi connection, is extremely powerful for the future of networking. 

At the end of the meeting, we all connected back in the first meeting room. The host introduced us to an app called Miro. “Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform that enables distributed teams to work effectively together, from brainstorming with digital sticky notes to planning and managing agile workflows.”

The host asked us to take a purple sticky note and type anything we wanted help with/are working on at the moment. For example, if you are planning on running a marathon and wanted to connect with someone in the group that has run a marathon for tips and advice, you could jot that down.

The next step was to take a blue sticky note and write down your contact details if you could help or if you wanted to connect with someone and match it up to their purple sticky! I saw things like “looking for self-help book recs,” and “looking for help with my social media as I start my new business.” I wrote down my contact next to that one and explained I am currently starting my own business offering services just for this. I wrote down that I was looking to connect with anyone in the freelancing world, and someone wrote back that they work directly with freelance copywriters and can connect me!

It was so exciting to see all the projects people are working on and the people in the group that could offer their expertise. Even if it was just a podcast recommendation, it still goes to show just how powerful connecting with others is and how easy it can be done now from the comfort of our own homes as we navigate this pandemic. 

The opportunities this one-hour virtual networking event provided just me alone are huge! I really look forward to attending more in the future. 

If you are looking to connect with likeminded people, for business advice, or just simply to connect with humans after spending so much time at home these days, I highly recommend attending the next virtual networking event at BoldHER. It was well worth my time and I left the meeting feeling inspired and refreshed. Hope to see you at the next one!