Networking is everywhere!

As I mentioned in my previous blog last week, we were in Mexico for a vacation. While playing in the ocean one day, I started telling my son about BNI (Business Network International), a meeting I attend every week with more than twenty other business professionals. Its purpose is to learn about each other and each others' businesses so that we can refer others to them.

As I'm talking, I hear, "Hey, I heard you mention BNI." (Sound does travel well near a body of water - remember that!) A young woman from the Washington, D.C., area was on vacation with several of her friends and they were also "playing" just a few feet away. Who could have guessed that she also is an active member of a BNI chapter, too. We chatted about what a small world it is.

Hmmm...I wonder if there's a BNI chapter in Puerto Vallarta.

Hey, Stephanie!!

What is the most unusual place you've ever networked?

Givers really do gain

It's a tenet of networking organizations that "givers gain." This belief really holds true in all settings and for all ages.

I was most fortunate this past week to vacation in Mexico to celebrate a milestone birthday and also to be joined by my son, his wife and our gorgeous granddaughter, Emme. Emme (whom we don't see very often because she lives in Washington state) is the love of my life (sorry, Dick) and she loves people. And she especially loves people her size. Whenever she sees a little person, she offers them whatever she may have in her hand (for example, a cookie or a toy). She is a real "giver."

What does she gain when she does this? Lots of little friends obviously, and the adoration of any adult who sees her. I can't tell you how many little old Mexican "grandmas" invited her to crawl up on their laps.

What's the most recent example you've seen of the principle of "givers gain?"