Rob Cullen came into to talk to us about the what, when, where, and how’s of networking at Griffith College. My expectations were that I thought it was going to be pretty repetitive because we learn this social knowledge early on (or at least I did). Once it began, I was quickly mistaken and found the presentation thought provoking and entertaining. The trained chef taught us all about the ins and outs of networking, specifically how it functions for him and the people in Ireland.

During the presentation, he first discussed about the importance of a name tag placement when entering an event and meeting people. He said that when you shake a person’s hand, the name tag should be visible to the other person. This is something I had never thought about and it’s such a small detail, yet it crucial for a good start when meeting somewhere. Because of Covid, handshaking is not too prevalent still when going to such events, however, I think we will soon start to see it again. This is a universal technique to really get a good start building a good relationship with someone new, especially if you’re interested in more business pursuits. A less universal and more Irish/European trick he talked about was that at a networking, to make a meaningful connection with someone is to talk about things unrelated to business. I found that really interesting because isn’t the whole purpose to discuss business related topics. I understand not wanted to do business at an event, but I don’t think it is a huge no to talk about those kinds of things. What I thought was a universal tip from that topic was that you should find a common interest between you and the person you’re talking to so they can remember you. The whole point of networking is so that people will know you and help you. “It’s not who you know or what you know, but who knows you.”

Lastly we visited Auxilion which was very interesting. Although, I wasn’t too interested prior to the site visit, I found what they do and they’re passion very fascinating. They said that this year they just celebrated 25 years. That’s a fantastic accomplishment and I feel like they’ve been able to stay relevant and keep growing their company is because they try to stay on top of of all the new technology and ideas that are being launched every day. Furthermore, I believe they try to anticipate the future of where the technology will go and how it will impact their company. This talk of 25 years made me think about how my dad said that he recently just celebrated 25 years working at his company. When you hear it from a company as a whole it doesn’t sound as crazy as when you compare it to an individual. It really puts it in perspective how long 25 years is and can feel. With that being said, 25 years is a really long time. The pandemic has only been a few years yet it feels like an eternity to us all. I can’t wait to keep up with the company and see where they’ll be in another 25 years, I hope I hear they’re name at home doing big things!