The old saw of don’t discuss politics or religion in polite conversation was brought home to me yesterday.

Over lunch, I recounted to a friend a conversation I had had the previous weekend with some mutual friends. My lunch companion asked why I had discussed politics in this conversation so early in my relationship with the mutual friends. Read More...

Consider your various networks: those that are the new-age electronic variety versus the old-school, clasped-hand face-to-face groups.

Are you using a mix of both? It really makes sense not to ignore today’s technology when it comes to connecting to and with people. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook do shorten the initial conversation when you do meet for the first time in person. However, those media should be the conduit for just that: an in-person meeting. Read More...

For the most part, presentations by two presenters are pretty predictable. they either tag-team it or do an in-line “you-go-first” variation. Same-o-same-o.

But what if you looked at content? Mixed it up and looked at who was going to present what and do s pin on one of these techniques? At today’s DFW AMA luncheon in Fort Worth, Graham Duke of Aviall and Jeff Warr of Zachry Associates told the story of the business partnership between their companies with a twist.

They tag-teamed to do the set up, but when it came time to tell each company’s story, the opposite guy told the other guy’s story. Graham told the ZA story and Jeff told the Aviall story. This reinforced the idea that it was a long and close relationship and that knowledge of a key client (or supplier) goes along way toward making it successful for both parties.

So, the next time you have to present, mix it up.

Relentless Read More...

Being persistent to be remembered is one thing. to slip past that and into annoying, is quite another.

Once during an internal interview with Honeywell, I made a point of staying in touch with the hiring manager. I had business reasons to call or talk with him, so I took full advantage. However, when the final gun sounded and they chose another for the spot (it was a geographic decision) I did a debrief with the hiring manager. Bill told me he was impressed with my credentials and approach. He also complimented me on “being in touch to the edge of being annoying”. Read More...

The lesson of how far we are of each other in degrees of separation became a reality last evening. And it was a lesson in recollection and “The 6 Degrees of Separation.”

An alumni association friend invited me to join his cycling group for dinner. Now, Joe has been after me for a while to join this group. I have some cycling experience, but am out of practice. The group includes his bike group and their SOs who may or may not bike. Read More...

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be able to spend some time with one of Dallas’ leading business people, Gail Warrior-Lawrence.

As a part of our duties as volunteers for the North Dallas Chamber, my colleague, Bob Trice of New York Life, and I interviewed Ms. Warrior-Lawrence for the NDCC Business of the Year Award for 2009. Read More...

It goes without saying that networking and fishing have a lot in common. Really.

There are three things to remember in each: Read More...

Today over lunch I heard a presentation by Michelle Wilde of Tech NPO. Michelle is an expert in both non-profit marketing and technology. She spoke on “eMarketing: how to successfully market your nonprofit organization on line,” to the DFW chapter of the American Marketing Association.

We hear about the social media sites (LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, Myspace) almost daily (hourly?) these days. Ms. wilde’s take on them, however, was targeted at how to find and market to potential donors. It was compelling and clear. Read More...

I just returned from a meeting of the Small Business Advisory Board at the North Dallas Chamber (NDCC). A different group mix today.

The group, comprised of both members and non-members of the NDCC, included an attorney, a recruiter, a health-and-wellness expert, two HR professionals, a financial expert and two advertising-related guys. This diverse group had an open discussion on LinkedIN, Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, Namz and how these and other social media sites lend themselves to being effective tools in either gathering or securing business. Read More...

With all of the talk about networking and connecting and whatever, we must not lose sight of what our motives and direction are.

While most networking situations are for business purposes, we find ourselves in a grey area sometimes since we are taking this on from a social direction. The bleed between the spheres does have us sometimes forgetting what the aim is and that we must exercise courtesy and comportment. Read More...