Local chamber mixer last Tuesday was a complete waste of gas money

I drove 20 minutes to a chamber of commerce networking event in Bellevue and spent the whole hour talking to three people who just handed me business cards and walked away. No one asked what I do or even seemed interested in anything beyond their own sales pitch told me these things are just referral mills for insurance agents and real estate agents. I'm thinking of starting my own small meetup group instead. Has anyone had better luck with industry-specific networking groups over general ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_simon19d agoTop Commenter

Gotta play the other side here. Those three people you talked to probably added you to their CRM and sent you a follow up email the next morning, so you're in their head now even if they didn't seem interested. Chamber mixers are about playing the long game, not getting a sale in 5 minutes. Industry groups can be even worse because everyone there knows the same people and has the same leads, so you're just fighting over scraps. That 20 minute drive cost you maybe $3 in gas, which is less than a latte, and now you have three fresh contacts you can ping in six months when you need something.

daniel47419d ago

The long game part from @the_simon is spot on, man.