Sunday, March 29, 2009

So Many Choices

Many years ago I remember a quiz that I took to help me better understand networking.

One question was, "A business friends is presenting at a conference that you are attending. You have heard the presentation previously. Will you attend this effort or choose another session that will help you to learn more?"

Ever hungry for more knowledge, I of course, said that I would blow off my friend and go to something else.

I am a little ashamed to admit this, because I now know that it was the wrong answer.
We all need to support our friends no matter how many times we have heard them speak about a certain subject. They need us.

We also might learn something new as a result of listening a second (or third or forth) time. A question from the audience might shine a light on something that was not explained before.

Word of mouth marketing is about giving as much as you receive. Being in the audience when your friend presents is the greatest gift you can give!

Would you have gotten that answer wrong, too?

1 comment:

Techietami said...

I would just comment that your response to that question is really probably situational. I would base my answer on how close of a relationship you have with the person. For instance, when my co-workers and I attend a conference we rarely attend each other's presentations. I would like to see them there but we all try to attend different sessions so we can share the information with each other. I think that would apply to a networking/friendship as well. Maybe your friend who is presenting has been put in the same time slot as another presentation she is interested in. If you attend that presentation you can then get together afterwards and share information. She can talk about how she did and you can share what you learned.

Your knowledge of the other person will help guide you in making the right decision!