Networking Can Be Fun and Good for Business
It’s been a busy week and thank goodness for that. I’m thrilled to share with you a few of the events I attended. Networking has proven to be a successful business development strategy for us for the past 10 years and I have enjoyed every minute of it.
On February 4th, I had the esteemed privilege of attending the Professional Women of Putnam’s Women of Excellence Awards Banquet. This was co-hosted by Mahopac News & Examiner Media.
This was the group’s First Annual event honoring women who were recognized for their contribution to Putnam County for their community service, professionalism and entrepreneurship. There were 22 nominees. As one of the judges, I can say that it was an extremely difficult decision. We had to narrow it down to 3 winners.
To add to the festivities, Kacey of the Mike & Kacey Show on 100.7 WHUD was the keynote speaker and Master of Ceremonies announcing the 2011 winners.
- Putnam County Female Entrepreneur of the Year – This was awarded to Rebecca Bertoli, owner of Eventful Magazine.
- Mahopac Female Entrepreneur of the Year – This was awarded to Donna Massaro who is the owner of the Freight House Cafe in Mahopac.
- Putnam County Woman of Excellence in Community Service – This was awarded Chief Annie Link who is the only female Fire Chief of Putnam County.
On February 7th, I was part of organizing the Professional Women of Westchester’s February networking event “I Love
Networking” in honor of Valentine’s Day at the dreamy and sophisticated 42 The Restaurant at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains. There were approximately 200 attendees that consisted of both women AND men.
This was fun! As a founding member of PWW, we thought it would be a good idea to mix it up a bit and invite men. What was especially interesting was the number of married couples who were in attendance as business owners. There were approximately 140 women and 60 men. We are planning to open it to men for our June event in honor of Father’s Day.
February 8th, I was very excited to attend the The American Heart Association “A Real Simple Evening” in honor of keynote speaker, Kristin van Ogtrop, who is the editor of the Real Simple Magazine. Kristin was charming and witty reading excerpts from her new book “Just Let Me Lie Down”. It was fun! Do you see a theme here?
The American Heart Association has a campaign known as Go Red. This campaign is to bring awareness, in order to save lives, to the #1 killer in women – heart disease. They are having their Go Red for Women Luncheon & Learning Session at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich on March 24th from 9:30 AM to 2 PM. Do you think I’ll be there? Stay tuned or Contact me to join the movement. For $200 per person, you can join our table and make a small donation to a big cause in addition to a great networking opportunity with approximately 600 women in attendance.
Networking isn’t for everyone, but if it’s for you, make it fun!
Linda Rey has been in the insurance business since 1985 where she started with her father. Rey Insurance is a family owned and operated independent Insurance agency in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Rey Insurance has been featured in Fortune Small Business, The Insurance Journal, The Journal News, Westchester Business Journal, Westchester Magazine’s 914 Inc as well as community publications The Examiner & Hudson Independent. Rey Insurance is also the exclusive insurance contributor to the Personal Finance Blog of Equifax. Rey Insurance can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Their tagline is: It’s our policy to treat you like family SM
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.