Using the Philadelphia Business Journal as a Networking Tool

If you ever have a chance to hear Lyn Kremer and Bernard Dagenais do their News You Can Use seminar, I recommend it highly. You will come away convinced that the Philadelphia Business Journal is the best networking and business development tool ever invented. Kremer and Dagenais spoke this past Saturday morning at a near-capacity Career Transitions meeting up in King of Prussia.

Now, Kremer is publisher and Dagenais the editor of the PBJ, so you would expect them to do a strong sales job on the newspaper. Still, they do an effective job of laying out how you can use the information in the newspaper to identify companies to target, keep track of the comings and goings of people, and get ideas for developing your business, your career, or your networking. Remember, successful networking involves people, ideas, and goals.

They even have an on-line events calendar, though it is only accessible to subscribers to the print version of the PBJ. (I've signed up as a subscriber, so I'll see if there is anything that should be added to the Calendar of Philadelphia networking events. Dagenais said that PBJ publishes the calendar as a public service, so he's happy to share the information.)

The News You Can Use seminar is due to be presented again for free on February 15 at the PBJ offices. A similar presentation is being hosted by the Women of Wit & Wisdom on January 17, though this one offers a cash bar and an admissions charge.

Incidentally, I've found Career Transitions to be a useful networking group, for the people involved in it, the people who attend it, and the topics that are presented there. It's co-sponsored by Company of Friends and ASTD, both of which have extensive networking reach throughout the Philadelphia area. The Career Transitions meetings are an especially good place to hone your networking skills, as Bart Ruff makes an effort at every meeting to get people to mix it up and meet one another. There are a lot of networking tips (and, yes, job searching tips) being exchanged.

I suppose I should tell you that I will be the guest speaker at the next Career Transitions meeting, speaking on Effective Use of LinkedIn for Personal Branding and Networking. (The link isn't quite live -- give it a few days!) So, please join us on Saturday, February 9, from 9:45 to 11:45 am, up at Strayer University in King of Prussia.