[csixty4]

Back in the day, people used to have Rolodexes, and it wasn't uncommon for a Rolodex to follow you out the door from one job to the next, growing steadily with each new acquaintance you made. A good executive relied on their Rolodex, kept it up-to-date. If you barely recognized a name, maybe it was time to call that person and meet them for drinks, catch up on what's new in their life.

Sometimes, you'd find yourself helping them move, or calling in a favor to get them front-row seats at a concert. And then when you'd have a need for a particular skill, you could say "it's ok, I know a guy" and call in a favor from them.

That's networking. That's all networking is. It's making connections with people and maintaining those connections over time. It's why executives and sales people spend so much time on the golf course. Connections. Relationships. Just short of friendships.

Somewhere along the line, that got packaged up, conceptualized, productized. People were told they should be networking. Here's a course on how to network. Let's have a "networking event"...bring your business cards! Networking went from a verb to a noun.

Screw that. Meet people, online and off. Help them out with their problems, or just hang out. Don't be a stranger. That's it. I bet if each of you thought about it, you network all the time.