SJ Longthorne

Hi! Following on from today's #EGX2019 portfolio reviews, here are a few tips I shared with attendees. If anyone has any other questions, feel free to ping them at me, and I'll get to them when I can. [THREAD]

Really useful advice! I must argue that I really don’t like the « make friends in the industry » as it will definitely scare a lot of people — networking is NOT making friends.

I disagree :) I think when we think of networking as shaking hands in suits, it’s cold and scary and all about using people. When we think of it as making friends, it’s warm and achievable and about supporting one another.

That's my take, too.

I’m not OK with this because it will definitely scare some people away. Networking, in my mind, is about sharing, giving back, helping out. You shouldn’t have to drink a pint with someone. Friends = personal in my mind. I could be wrong.

That's fair. I'm not suggesting a need to make new people into close friends, but am suggesting a support network. Maybe make new 'acquaintances' fits better? I think we're all on the same page, just maybe have slightly different connotations of the word 'friend'.