Leaves will Fall, while Connections Blossom

Written by Ryan Conway, CYP CLUB Networking Director

Fall is upon us, whether we like it or not. The dawning of a new Buckeye football season, school is back in session, and a new year is just in sight. Before we move forward, let's take a moment to reflect on a successful summer of networking activities.

The Coffee Talk Networking series spread its wings and traveled to venues like TechColumbus, Creekside Conference & Event Center, and also made a couple stops at Experience Columbus. We've learned about what's going on with our beloved Columbus Clippers and partnerships like Columbus 2020, we've also sampled specialty coffees from Crazy Goat Coffee and learned about some awesome local restaurants, and even got a little crazy with a Twister edition of Speed Networking. Our Five Pillars event has continued to flourish with some fantastic panel discussions about personal development, both within ourselves and with our community, thanks largely in part to Members First Credit Union. It's been a fantastic summer of networking opportunities and we're looking to keep it rolling right into the fall!

Whether you've been to hundreds of networking events or you're planning on checking out your first one, there's always chance to hone your networking skills -- and typically many opportunities to do so within a single well-attended event, that's the true beauty of networking! Shake a few hands, introduce yourself, tell people what you do and the benefit it provides, hear what they do and listen… don't see an opportunity for you or for them? Thank them for the introduction, then move onto another. When an opportunity for business or a connection arises, let the conversation roll on or schedule a second meeting for coffee or lunch to discuss further.

Everyone is here for the same basic reason, to make a connection that will help them and their business or career, along with help others too. That's the common denominator amongst all participant, or so don't be embarrassed "selling" yourself. Don't be nervous about having a weak sales pitch either, keep tweaking and trying different deliveries and see what works best for you. The CYP CLUB offers a lot of great opportunities to networking, along with groups like Network Columbus, Big Fish Networking, AmSpirit Business Connections and plenty more all over Columbus.

Coming up next on the CYP CLUB calendar is our Coffee Talk Networking event at the Chocolate Cafe in Upper Arlington. Have a casual chat with CYP CLUB president Derek Grosso, Networking Committee member Matthew Gray, myself and the rest of the Coffee Talk gang about tips and tricks of a successful networking experience. This will be a great event for networking veterans, and especially first-time networkers. The gloves are coming off, and we're getting our hands dirty digging deep into how to network effectively. You won't want to miss this!

Last but not least, with the berth of the new monthly networking newsletter, we're taking the honor of being Networker of the Month to the next level. We've let the big benefit of this opportunity linger in recent history, but going to elevate the opportunity of this distinction and increase the exposure by adding the profile and professional photo of this individual to the newsletter. Where else can you get your mugshot in front of over 15,000 (and counting) of Columbus' finest young professionals for absolutely free?? You must attend a Coffee Talk Networking series event to be selected, so register today for our next meeting!

The author is a realtor with Keller Williams and the Networking Director for the CYP CLUB. He also thinks that the Coffee Talk Networking series has an awesome host.