Smaller Indiana Networking Success Story

I consider myself to be pretty darned proficient at networking. I find it easy to talk to people I don't know, love attending events and making connections. Thanks to Smaller Indiana I've been able to boost that effectiveness to a whole new level.

Last night the Women & Hi Tech Discussion Group meeting was hosted by the DocTrain Life Sciences conference. This wonderful opportunity came about because Scott Abel saw some of my postings about Women & Hi Tech on Smaller Indiana and thought there might be some overlap between the members of our organization and the audience he was trying to reach for the conference. He offered to host our meeting if we would promote his event to our members. A definite win-win on both sides.

The topic we'd chosen for our discussion group this month was Entrepreneurship and the format I'd chosen was a panel discussion where individuals who'd taken the plunge and gone into business for themselves could share talk about their experiences. While there are members of Women & Hi Tech who certainly fit that description, I wanted to branch out. As with any organization that's been around for almost a decade, we have a tendency to call upon the same people time and time again. I wanted to inject some fresh perspectives into the event.

Smaller Indiana seemed like a perfect place to recruit speakers for the event. I used the Help Wanted Forum to post an ad asking for volunteers. I was very impressed by the response and in the end had more volunteers than I needed. Many thanks to Ann Clifford (Safari Solutions), Rae Hostetler (Hostetler Groth Marketing Communicatons), Andrea Ridder (Levelsix Marketing and Public Relations), and Kimberly Small (TEXTBYREQUEST) for their participation on the panel. I've received rave reviews from everyone who attended!

Without Smaller Indiana, I never would have made these wonderful connections. Yes, I certainly could have planned and executed the event but it would have been a far different event. Amy Stark recently posted a question asking people to describe Smaller Indiana. For me, it's more than just sharing ideas and information but a place to make connections with people I might not have the opportunity to get to know otherwise (whether we ever meet in person or not). Thanks to everyone who make this such a strong and vibrant community!