Networking has always been one of my bigger challenges. It's not that I can't meet people - I meet people all the time and can talk to just about anyone. I'm a pretty outgoing person and can make friends easily (as JerichoHill can attest) but I have a hard time turning those conversations into solid networking opportunities. It's a psychological barrier of mine to transfer from personal to professional that I'm working on.

So, my question to you is:

What do you do to increase your personal/professional network?

This is of particular interest to me because I just moved from DC to Portland. In DC I knew/had access to hundreds of people so it was easy to network and establish my business. In Portland I know one person and that person only distantly so I'm starting from scratch. I've done this before (start from scratch in a new city) but am always interested to learn how other people meet new friends/contacts.

Along those lines, is anyone involved in LinkedIn (or located in Portland) and are you interested in connecting?

I work at home alone (all my colleagues are in another city far, far away), so I don't have many professional networking opportunities...but then again I don't have any professional networking needs either. It's mainly to avoid feeling isolated that I seek out other people who do the same kind of work I do. For that I joined a professional association in my field (science writing) and got in touch with the other members in my city. Conferences are of course another good way to build up professional contacts.

My personal network revolves entirely around music. I play traditional Irish music as a passion (more than a hobby but not a job), and you can find communities of Irish musicians almost everywhere, even in places like Tokyo. When I moved to Montreal I had a large and ready-made community of friends simply by virtue of attending jam sessions at pubs here in town. I know almost nobody here who isn't a musician. It's also a great way to meet people when traveling.

Thanks Brad,

I work at home too, though my job depends completely on networking and building contacts so that part's a little different. I've contacted my local BNI chapter about joining and will go to a meeting next week. There are other professional organizations I'm looking at.

Personally, I have lots of hobbies and interests so I just join a bunch of groups. Luckily there are lots of oudoor groups here to get involved with. I'm also thinking of getting a job at an outdoor store which will 1) finance my outdoor lifesytle (with a discount!) and 2) help me to meet similar minded people.

Thanks for your input.

pf101