Do you ever offer anything or are you only offering what you sell?
I charge for my events so I can continue to bring cool people together. And I think if it's free people do not value them. And since this is my hobby and my church, I do my best to not lose too much money. But this is not my career and it's not how I earn my living.
Why oh why do we do this? Endless business cards, hand shaking, smiles and selling our crap.
I want one thing from you and one thing only:
Show up, make some effort to have a short conversation with everyone in the room, and in each burst, as you learn about them ask yourself this: "Can I find a way to help them with their pain points?" or "Can I think of three amazing people in my network who they need to connect with and can I make that happen for them?"
We rarely do this, instead we ask the dreaded question: "So what do you do for a living?" And all we really hear in their reply is: "Blah, blah, blah.... as we try to figure out how to see them what we want to talk about."
And then the sorting begins, we get rid of those we don't need, we don't think of how to help them first, our first thought is move on and get some value for ourselves out of this damn event.
God I HATE networking! I think its the ultimate irony don't you? The guy who hates networking events, created a networking event with a twist so see if it could be different.
Do people come and sell stuff? YES
Do people come and try to talk only about them self? YUP
Do I gather a community of givers who get it? IN SPADES
Look it's fine to sell; it's better to collaborate.
My approach, "Offer twice, ask once!"
Start off by offering to help!
Then...do it again.
Then if you need something...after you have done your best to help, ask away.
It's only in GIVING that you really start to GET!
Otherwise you’re just out there selling, pushing and "marketing". (Well at least you think it's marketing, it's really not!)
The Art of Active Networking returns this Monday to Vancouver March 24th at 6:30pm and this one is going to be special. It's at Foster Eastman Gallery and we are sponsoring a panel for his mural and I am donating a portion of all the sales to this awesome Veterans project for Canadian Veterans of the war in Afghanistan. Foster is an extraordinary artist I met a few months back when my friend Mark Busse referred me to him. Like so many of my close friends in Vancouver, Mark is one of those rare givers who honestly gets it!
Then March 31st we return to The Box SF in San Francisco, this is the most giving group I know. I am honestly astounded by how they step up month after month. And our SF Meetup alone is a nearly 1000 member strong!
April 8th we debut in Washington DC at the Lookout and this is a cool group of film and Media folks doing some cool stuff so you don't want to miss this. My friend Laticia Headings is helping me bring this to DC!
April 28th we're back to San Francisco and The Box SF for our biggest monthly event in North America.
More to come as we find venues and I set my schedule!
If you would consider emailing this invite to your friends and colleagues I would be ever grateful. If you Tweet mine are: @MarkESackett and @ACTIVENETWORKIN please mention us. Join our groups and pages on LinkedIn and Facebook and if you are a Meetup Member we have 5 Meetup Groups as well. Use my Active Networking walls to ask for what you need too. Everyone here needs to win!
The site is:
http://www.TheArtofActiveNetworking.com
All the events are listed there, as are the social media links!
This is the direct ticket link for Vancouver and our special benefit is here:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-art-of-active-networking-vancouver-march-24-2014-tickets-10737966547
Spread the word. Pay for an event that gets a good result not some bad wine and empty handshakes!
Show up with purpose and your powerful integrity and watch your relationships grow as mine have!
I'm grateful for you all!
Tickets are always available for each event on our website until 6pm day of the event, or are available for 10 dollars more at the door until 7:30 pm. Please take a look at our Website; read the reviews; join our groups and social media pages on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter; and share this with others at http://www.TheArtofActiveNetworking.com
The power of us working together is greater than anything we can accomplish alone!
Be Well, Be Creative, Be Great!
Mark E. Sackett
Creative Director / Executive Producer / Director / Public Speaker
Mobile 415-602-9500
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