Fast workers

Speed networking is like business on steroids. Armed with their 30-second pitch, professionals are finding that it's perfectly OK to cut the chitchat, make snap judgements and move on. Looking apprehensive, -year-old Vicki Blanch takes her place in the suit-clad crowd gathered at Melbourne's Langham hotel. The shy brunette, one of only a handful of women in the room, has three minutes per candidate to tout her wares. This is speed networking - a spin-off of speed dating where, instead of swapping flirty chitchat, hopefuls trade job descriptions and business cards. The cacophony in the conference room foyer escalates as the 40 delegates at this power industry conference network in a scene akin to a steroid-enhanced Japanese business-card exchange. Most are dispensing with small talk and getting down to brass tacks, launching into what the Americans have called their "elevator speech" - a 30-second spiel on who they are and what they do. Advertisement: Story continues below Forty minutes later, having worked about half the room, most participants have wandered off to debrief over coffee and mini fruit flans. Two men are comparing business cards as if they were swap cards: "How many did you get?" Blanch, a senior manager at the Melbourne office of energy consultants Saha International, seems both relieved and invigorated after her first attempt at speed networking. "It was good for me. I'm naturally shy and would never talk to anyone if at all possible," she says. "And it's only three minutes. Some people you want to talk to for longer but with other people, you're thinking, 'Is it time yet?'" Blanch could well have been describing speed dating, the inspiration behind this no-nonsense networking. Invented by a Los Angeles rabbi in 1998 as a way for Jewish singles to size up marriage candidates, speed dating Canada Goose Expedition has spread through pubs and bars in Australia where it's evolved into targeted events catering to niches from wine lovers and salsa fans to gay men, lesbians and the very tall. Sydney-based conference organisers Terrapinn have included speed networking in all their events for nearly two years. "We don't have sit-down lunches any more because you met so few people," says Terrapinn's managing director, Symon Rubens. "And people love it. You're not going to close a deal but you are going to meet everyone." Anyone who's ever been stuck at a corporate do and run out of conversation before entree, or been exposed to the networking shark whose eyes glaze over once they realise you're of no use, will appreciate the etiquette advantages of speed networking. There's no need to worry about being socially mercenary. In the speed world, it's OK to make instant assumptions about the other person's value or profitability and move on - no hard feelings. In fact, it's expected. Even if you hit it off, you must hit the road when the bell sounds. A fundamental premise of speed dating is that you can be ruthless because you make up your mind about a potential partner in the first seconds anyway. The power of first impressions can be equally potent in business, whether it's about appearance, body language or voice. "People are looking for effective ways to maximise the number of connections," says Amanda Nissman, whose company, Networking for Professionals, holds monthly speed networking events in New York. "This allows them to meet a lot of contacts, then follow up later and build relationships." Globally, the rapid approach is creeping into areas such as recruitment, where speed interviewing is used to select graduates at career fairs or campus recruitment drives or to filter low-level candidates who have similar credentials.

Posted in: Rosetta Stone,Rosetta Stone Outlet,rosetta stone software,Rosetta Stone V3