While the weather outside was still rather autumnal with a couple of degrees above zero, the hall at the Aldaris brewery was decked out in suitably December décor - blue lighting, frosted decorative branches, and a starry dome as an elegant element. Beautiful! But the conversation was serious - what will the coming year bring for Latvia, what are the global trends, and how will they affect the business environment.
Networking is the building of contacts and relationships in order to develop business, improve knowledge and skills, expand one's sphere of influence, or serve society. Here I have compiled my experience of the networking events I have attended in Riga.
One of the challenges for anyone presenting before an audience is to stay calm, speak with confidence, engage the audience, and hold their attention. Emotions, feelings of discomfort, or the thought that everyone is now judging you often interfere with the ability to concentrate on content. I drew several valuable insights from Oskars Priede's seminar at LTRK.
Another reason why it is worth attending networking events is the chance to stumble upon new ideas or sources from which to draw those ideas or inspiration. So it happened this time too - on 16 March I attended the Riga500 networking event at Gaismas Pils. As one of the early bird ticket buyers, I received as a gift from the event organisers Daniel Priestley's book "Key Person of Influence. The Five-Step Method to become one of the most highly valued and highly paid people in your industry".
Sometimes adaptability is not enough - agility is required. Everyone must work with the client! It is not only the responsibility of the salesperson or service employee. It is the responsibility of the manager, the HR specialist, the administrator, the accountant, and other company employees. Each at their own level and within the bounds of their own professional competencies.
A person's weak thinking is shaped by their life experience - that is, their stereotypes - and all decisions and conclusions are made on the basis of trial and error. Practitioners of powerful thinking, on the other hand, use specific algorithms to resolve any situation (in their own favour).
After six months of careful preparation and gathering of active, enterprising, and action-driven business managers and owners, on the morning of 10 March the launch event of Latvia's second BNI group was held at the Gaismas Pils restaurant. It was attended by more than 130 guests from a variety of companies and fields of activity.
Thanks to reviews and a fairly wide social media campaign, this year I decided to attend the one-day Subject:Creativity conference, dedicated to four themes - identity, place, boundary, and the human being. The prospect of visiting the newly built Lielais Dzintars concert hall in Liepāja was also enticing. I must say straight away that despite plans to stay longer in Liepāja, I was back in Riga by midnight. Why that was - more on that below.
To become a successful networker and be able to grow your business through recommendations and referrals, every BNI member must master a series of GiversGain principles and understand the philosophy: help others become successful in their business and you will become successful in yours. That is the purpose of this BNI training.
Over the past year I have attended a number of networking events and have concluded that Latvians are not such a reserved nation as some might like to think. We do like to talk - but how to do so effectively and usefully for our business is a whole separate skill to learn.
