The
first
WBIS
(Women Building & Investing In Success) Special Event of
2008 was an absolute winner. It was held April 9th at the
Waterford
in Springfield, VA, and featured special guest speaker Sarah
Michel, author of
Perfecting Connecting:
A Personal Guide to Mastering Networking in the Workplace.
The event took the WBIS motto "Collaborate ... Cultivate ...
Celebrate" to a new level.
About 50
people filled the room, mostly women, all entrepreneurs who
soaked up the great information Michel shared about things
like effectively introducing yourself to others, tapping the
power of your database and understanding our differences so
we can better connect.
That's right.
Sarah Michel insists that we "connect," not network. No more
collecting business cards like a mad woman (or man) thinking
that if you don't do business you've wasted your time. She
even shared her own inspiring story about how "connections"
helped her beat back cancer. Being present and of service to
others is never a waste of time. And who knows? You might
make money. You might even save a life -- your own or that
of someone you care about.
Bravo
to WBIS leader
Sheila Dixon
of S&E Marketing Concepts for connecting with Sarah Michel
and other adventurous women over the years, and enjoying the
heck out of keeping the connections going!
Sarah Michel, CSP, is an international speaker who works with
organizations and associations, creating behavioral changes by
teaching people how to intentionally connect with anyone,
anywhere, anytime. Sarah is an expert on the art of
connecting and the author of Perfecting Connecting, A Guide to
Mastering Networking in the Workplace and the national audio
program, Learning to Speak the Language of others. Her
high energy, humor and inspiration motivates audiences to take
action.
In the 21st century your success will be based
on the people you know. Your clients, strategic partners and
employer all want to know how you have invested in your social
capital that will pay out in dividends for them in word of mouth
advertising, referrals, resources and leads. In other words, is
your net working?
In this session, Sarah will map out for you the six stages
involved in connecting with a new contact. She will show you the
importance of each of these stages and the questions you need to
be asking to assure a strong connection. Mapping out your six
degrees of connection will help you improve your net worth and
social capital with both your internal and external networks.
If you believe only extroverts can be effective at networking,
then this session is for you! Sarah's approach honors everyone's
unique personality style and shows you how to be effective by
capitalizing on your own unique talents and skills that support
the networking process.
"Its been a pleasure meeting you
all at the last luncheon, what
has impacted me the most are the
presentations that come with the
group, the activity and the
events like having Gina Watkins,
Sarah Michel both were
inspirational, real professional
and last night Sarah with her
testimony was moving."
- First time WBIS guest- S.Jara
