Some time back, I wrote this article called, Chamber of Commerce Networking Events Are A Waste Of Your Time.
I knew that would bug some people. The headline of the article itself was intended to grab attention. (I do have a copywriting background, after all.)
But I didn’t write the article to annoy people. I wrote it because I believe it and I want to give you something to think about. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you agree with me or not. In fact, if all I’ve done is cause you to re-commit to an opinion that’s totally opposite of mine, that’s a good thing.
Today, I found this article taking me to task for my article. Looks like it was written a year ago, but some things that are brought up are worth commenting on.
Frank Kenny writes:
I wish he would have allowed comments.
I don’t allow comments on either of my blogs because I don’t have the time to address people who comment on a regular basis. If you take the time I post a comment, I feel I owe you the respect of a response. But I just can’t these days… business is good, free time is short. That’s why my own participation in other blogs is way down.
And, sad to say, there seems to be a lot of people who make it their mission to be disruptive on blogs whether it’s with rude, disrespectful comments, or spam. Again, I just don’t have the time to deal with it.
Having said that, I’m never opposed to including a well thought-out rebuttal in a future article if you want to contact me directly. Or posting an article that links to your own blog where you have a different point of view. In fact, that’s what I’m doing with Mr. Kenny’s article. I wish I had known about it long before now.
He fails to mention being of service. He is all about “what’s in it for me”. People like this are horrible networkers because all they want to do is take.
Actually, I failed to mention lots of things. It was already a long article. I could have written pages and pages more.
But for the record, I’m not all about “what’s in it for me.” I was a Chamber Ambassador, on the board of the Chamber Ambassadors (even nominated for Ambassador of the Year), on numerous committees, etc. My trouble ended up being that I was giving too much at the expense of my freelance business. (Same thing with being in Rotary.)
Going beyond that, the seminars/classes I’ve taught, these blog articles to share my experiences with other freelancers… that doesn’t come from someone who is selfish. I’m not sure how Mr. Kenny could read the original article and come to that conclusion, unless he thought I was lying when I wrote:
Years later, when I became a freelance writer, I had the some of the best times of my professional life volunteering as a chamber Ambassador and getting involved in the community in ways I had never done before. Some of the people that I worked with on various committees remain good friends even though I’m no longer a member of any chamber.
So, again, I have nothing against chambers in general.
But his point about people who are just in it for themselves being horrible networkers is spot-on. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons why Chamber networking events can be such a waste of your time… the people who are just in it for themselves.
To a certain degree, you have to have a bit of “what’s in it for me” in you. You’re not running a charity… you’re running a freelancer copywriting or design business. You have bills to pay. There does come a point where you have to be on the receiving end of things.
You can only control your own actions and attitudes, though. It’s a nice idea that you can change people and their attitude about networking. And given enough time and effort, you could probably make good progress in changing other people. But we always have to come back to the reality that, as a freelancer, you have limited time and probably limited financial resources. If you’re not focused on the right things, you’ll soon be out of business. (And then the Chamber loses, too, because you’ll have to stop being a paying member.)
Glad he is not a member of my chamber.
I interpret that comment as one coming for a person who is personally hurt that I strongly said something he didn’t agree with. Otherwise, I’m not sure why you’d say something like that without really knowing me or developing a deeper understanding of why I believe what I believe if it’s not making any sense to you. It would be unfair to expect anyone to read every blog post I’ve written here or elsewhere, but I think it would create a very clear picture of my attitude toward giving. It’s a shame to apparently be judged like that off of one blog article that holds an opposing view.
It’s not bragging for me to say I was a valued member of my Chamber because of all the volunteer time I put in to help make my Chamber as good as it could be. They were sad when I moved away because it’s hard to find people who are willing to put in so much extra volunteer time. (And can do so during “business” hours because of my flexible freelance hours.) Chambers would be much stronger if more people would find ways to pitch in.
I would have been a valued member of Mr. Kenny’s Chamber, too. But because I criticized one aspect of Chamber membership, I guess I’m marked as selfish, despite my comments in the original article and my service to my own Chamber at the time.
Addressing some of the other comments made by others in Mr. Kenny’s post, I would agree that Chambers need to do a better job of helping people understand what might be realistic in their networking environment. I don’t think my Chamber did a really good job at that time. And part of that blame falls on me as someone who was on the Ambassador Board. The beauty of 20-20 hindsight, eh?
And I would also agree that Chambers do far more to help businesses than just hold monthly networking events. But that still doesn’t mean Chamber membership is the best thing for you, much less their networking events.
There are very few, if any, Chambers that have unlimited resources. So they have to make tough decisions on what they can offer, now more than ever. That means they can’t be all things to all people. So it’s not being selfish for you to examine whether you’re getting good value from your Chamber or any of their events. While it might not be fair, for beginning or struggling freelancers, “good value” can sometimes be nothing less than “paid projects.”
I stand by everything I said in the original article including how Chambers have a tendency to create an atmosphere of “attend our event to make sales.” Unfortunately, it’s natural for smaller businesses that are struggling to go into those events with that mindset.
If you get a roomful of people like that, it’s not so much a matter of them all being selfish, although I’m sure some are. Instead, I think it’s more about not being educated by their Chamber or still being totally unrealistic if their Chamber does have an educational program in place. (And as someone said, that might be as simple as Chamber Ambassador becoming something of a “big brother, big sister” to the new member.)
I also need to point out that my article was in a narrow focus of freelance copywriters and designers and using your networking time most efficiently. We are sometimes seen as a luxury. At best, people know the value of what we do and would love to hire us, but simply can’t afford us. Again, that’s something even more prevalent in this economic environment than it was when I wrote the original article. At some point, you have to move on to better opportunities. (And I gave ideas for that in my original article.)
I didn’t say you shouldn’t join a Chamber. I didn’t say you shouldn’t attend Chamber networking events. I didn’t say there’s no value at all in talking to the non-bigwigs of a company. I certainly didn’t say you should go in with a “what’s in it for me” attitude.
What I did say was that these events may not be the most efficient use of your time. I did say that, given limited time, there might be better opportunities for you, the copywriter or designer.
And here’s what I did say from my original article (with copywriters and designers in mind):
To network efficiently and to land projects that will help you reach your financial goals, you need to be where your best clients are. My guess is they’re not sitting next to you at a chamber breakfast once a month.
That’s just my opinion based on my experience and the experience of writer/designer colleagues across the U.S. If your Chamber is different, I am truly happy for you. In fact, I’d like to hear about it and post it here. If you’re a freelance copywriter or designer, send me your positive Chamber networking event story and a link to your site so I can consider it for inclusion on this blog.
I want to end with a link to a PDF. It’s an article I wrote several years ago called, 12 Steps to Make Networking Events Successful. That was based on lots of Chamber events I attended, first as a total newcomer (and pretty-much a know-nothing networker), then as an Ambassador with a lot more experience under my belt.
