Al Warr: Picket fences make a comeback with networking sessions

By Al Warr

Not so long ago, we talked with our neighbors across the picket fence. And business owners were on a first name basis when customers arrived.

Times change. Today, we tweet on Twitter, we like on Facebook, and we send selfies on the phone. The picket fence has gone electronic.

Tweets and likes and selfies might be quick and easy, but they have a significant limitation. They just dont provide the up close and personal contact of a face-to-face conversation. The give and take of a direct conversation can put the icing on a cake baked with words only.

And thats where business networking meetings put the body language back into contacts.

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I started this networking group to provide a warm and inviting environment for networking, said Julie Parker.

Its been almost three years since she convened the first meeting of the group. Membership has grown to about 150 members, with 25 to 30 business people showing up for each monthly meeting, she said.

We get together the third Tuesday of each month, unless it interferes with a holiday, said Parker.

The third Tuesday this month is next week, Dec. 16. Her Small Biz Networking group will convene in the banquet room of the Flemington-Raritan Diner, 324 Rt. 31located between HealthQuest and StopNShop. People begin arriving at 11 a.m. and the meeting runs to 1:30 p.m.

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Al Warr: Picket fences make a comeback with networking sessions