If you're familiar with the criticism of some 'Z list' celebrities that they would turn up at the opening of a paper bag then you may think it applicable to my business networking strategy of old.  If there was a networking event going on then I'd be there, even if there was no free lunch.

Thankfully age and experience has now made me a little more fussy about the events I will attend.

I should stress at this point that some of the views expressed here are definitely personal.  Just because I have never found value in a particular forum doesn't mean it might not be the most useful session you ever attend. The specific examples cited here are obviously most relevant to the East Anglia region of the UK but there are likely to be very similar events going on wherever you are with equivalent strengths and weaknesses.  Anyway, back to the point in hand.

I currently attend four different types of event on a fairly regular basis for a variety of reasons. 

• The first reason for attending is generally the topic under discussion.  More often that not it's a technical presentation where I'll hope to pick up a few nuggets of knowledge which will prove useful for me or one of my clients in the future but I also attend occasional seminars on other issues facing SMEs or other enterprises
• Secondly it's  a chance to catch up with friends or associates and discuss anything from the state of the economy to Ipswich Town's dismal performances since the arrival of Roy Keane
• Finally, it's the opportunity to meet new people and extend 'my network'

I'm a big fan of the Net Result Forum for IT Managers.  This forum meets about once a month and covers a broad range of technical topics. Most of the attendees are IT managers or technical staff from businesses or public bodies throughout East Anglia and this generally allows the presenter to get down to a useful technical level quite quickly and bypass much of the pre-amble.  I've picked up a lot of technical pointers in the last couple of years and made a number of business friends amongst those that regularly attend.  I rather suspect I'll be mentioning the Forum again in future blog posts.

My other favourite is the ITFC breakfast club.  This is a far more irregular event with only four breakfast sessions a year but the standard of the speakers is usually exceptional, matched only by the quality of the breakfast itself.  The subject matter has a general business focus rather than technical and at recent events this has varied from fascinating insights into the world of PR from Mark Borkowski to the challenges faced by a football manager from Jim Magilton himself.  Attendees are varied from local businesses and not all of them have any interest in football.  If you don't mind an early start I can't recommend this one highly enough.

In recent months I've also been to events organised by the local Chamber of Commerce and  the Suffolk eBusiness Club as well as a very energy sector specific breakfast discussing the supply and price of gas for the next 20 years.  I've met some very nice people and doubtless I will continue to find the time to attend events that stir my interest.  If you happen to bump into me at an event then please say hello and share your experiences.

I'll be returning to this subject soon and discussing some of the events I have found not to be a good use of my time including 'one minute pitch' breakfast clubs, Chamber of Commerce lunches and BT technology events.

I'll leave you with a few pearls of wisdom (or clichés depending on your networking experience level).  The objective of business networking is to get people to talk about you when you're not there - let them do your marketing for you in your absence.  Don't spend your time thinking about how you can bring a conversation round to your latest product or achievement - if people are interested then they will ask.  Be nice, be interesting and most of all ... listen more than you talk, you never know what you'll learn.