from the top

BY ROBERT WOOD HBA Board President

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about connections. We threw an open house party this summer to celebrate our new office space. The party made us look at our contacts to create the guest list.

We invited clients, trade partners, and friends and got a great turnout. It was easy to measure the event as a success because of the count of RSVPs. I saw people I hadn’t seen in years for no reason other than that life happened, and time ticked on.

It was interesting to see that many of our connections also knew each other. While catching up with a client, he tapped the shoulder of our lawyer, who walked by and said hello. I have known each person for years and had no idea they knew each other.

While people showed up to support us, the real value was that they could expand their networks and connect with like-minded people. We heard of several instances where our connections struck up a conversation, and now they’re helping to set up a job interview for their college-aged kid living out of state or meeting up to grab a coffee as new friends. While our guests may not have arrived with that result in mind, they appreciated the opportunity to be in a room with interesting people, which made the party successful.

It’s essential to show up; that’s how connections get created. It’s also important to invite people to come together. There are plenty of ways to connect in business and life, and for me – the HBA is my way of staying connected. People get more comfortable with you the more they see you. The person who didn’t get business out of their HBA membership likely didn’t show up long enough to make the appropriate connections. Networking isn’t a one-hitwonder type of thing. It takes consistent effort, and you will start to reap the benefits. It’s easy to blow it off when you’re busy, but you’ll make the time if you create the routine now.

The excuse of “I don’t have enough time to get involved” is bogus. You don’t have to have a perfect attendance record to contribute. The HBA lets people get involved at different levels, and that’s why it works. Don’t feel you must contribute the same amount of time or resources as anybody else. Whether your intention is social, educational, or networking, the fact that you showed up to an event makes it better.

Today, social media and the constant news feeds make us feel like we’re connected. But to me, a genuine connection is sitting face-to-face with someone or picking up the phone. I challenge you to reach out and connect with someone. There are several HBA events to invite someone to check out with you this fall. Trust me, you both will get something out of it.

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