As an IT professional, you should make it a practice of attempting to increase your people network. Having a LinkedIn profile and joining virtual associations helps a little bit, but you need to do more. You need to meet people face to face. One of the absolute best ways of doing this is attending community and mainstream IT events in your area. Attending events gives you a chance to meet other IT professionals in various fields of expertise. For example, I attended a Microsoft
Reason #1 – I don’t know everything. Attending this specific event increased my knowledge and skillset with Windows deployment beyond my current level of expertise. In fact, both of the presenters at this event, and John Baker
Reason #2 – To increase my people network. The power of networking is incredible. In IT, someone in your people network may be able to help you find a job, or give you guidance on a problem, introduce you to a new idea or new technology, and more. Maintaining professional relationships is integral.
With that being said, I am sure you are very interested in finding some IT events in your area! Here are a couple of links to help get you started.
– Spiceworks is a very
Finally, use Google or Bing to search for professional associations in your area. For example, I live in central Florida. I searched “IT professionals Orlando” and several results popped up….
http://www.meetup.com/Orlando-IT-Professionals/
Well, that is pretty much that I have on this subject right now. If you are interested in more information, feel free to email me at or [email protected]