How to Network at Pharmacy Conferences When You Hate to Network – Part I
Take the Poll: Do you love or hate to network?
Are you someone who goes to pharmacy conferences & enjoy attending educational sessions or workshops, but dread anything that has “networking event” on it? You avoid them as much as possible, or make up excuses not to go. Maybe you wonder if something is wrong with you and why it is that other pharmacists around you seem to network so easily. If you hate to network, you are probably like many other pharmacists.
Maybe you’d be surprised to hear that the truth is most people don’t enjoy networking. Especially if they’re an introvert. I used to hate networking, because I was concerned about what people would think of me. It was like the possibility of being rejected time and time again each time I met a new person. And even when I went through a lot of personal growth and became more comfortable in my own skin, networking was still not something I enjoyed, until I had a significant mindset shift that changed everything.
I went from wondering what I could get out of a networking event to “who can I help in this room today?” This shift changed everything for me, because I no longer had the pressure of having to say the right things or made sure I got what I wanted out of the conversation when I met someone. It became much less about me & what I could get out of the networking, but rather how I can help another pharmacist get to where they want to go. It was about thinking who can I introduce them to, or what resources I could offer them. Networking became more enjoyable (although still not my favorite thing to do). As a result, I also ended up with more helpful relationships and connections.
Now, you can have your own style of networking that works for you as well. For example, if you’re an introvert, your needs are different compared to an extrovert. I will discuss that in a future article in this series.
For those of you going to the APhA Meeting in Seattle coming up, have a good time! Go into the conference with your new mindset shift and comment below to let me know how it changes your experience.
How to Make the Most out of Pharmacists You Meet at APhA Meeting (or other Pharmacy Conferences) – to Get What You Want
Are you going to the APhA Meeting next week? Here’s how to make the most out of the contacts you’ll be meeting. Watch this video on the quick & easy steps to take that most pharmacists don’t think of doing when they attend a conference. You’ll love how simple they are. They will help you build relationships that can lead to you finding pharmacy jobs, sharing best pharmacy workflow/management practices, pharmacy residencies, developing friendships, and support that can get you to where you want to go professionally. Comment below on what you think about this video.
Prefer reading instead? Then scroll down to read on…
One of the challenges I hear from pharmacists who attend APhA Meeting, ASHP Midyear, or other pharmacy conferences is getting excited about receiving many business cards during the meeting, but then stuffing them in their drawer and never looking at them again. This happens even if they had the best intentions of doing something after the conference with the connections they made. You’re missing out on so much opportunity & one of the most valuable opportunities of attending a pharmacy conference by doing this. If you’re like most pharmacists, this happens to you because you’re busy or don’t know easy steps to take to make the most from pharmacy contacts you meet.
Here’s a quick tip for you. Once you meet someone, write down a few impressionable things about them, so you’ll remember what they look like and it will refresh your memory down the road. Write down something that you can help the person with or what you’d like to reach out to them about, based on your conversation. And before you go to the APhA Meeting (or a conference in the future), bring cards or postcards with you. After you’ve met someone, you can write a note after you get back to your hotel room about how you appreciated meeting them. Reach out to share potential resources that you feel would be helpful to them, or something else of value.
Mail the note when you get back home. This will save you time and from not doing anything at all. You won’t have to face the challenge of having another thing to do after you get back home from the conference. Most of the time when you get back from a conference, you will probably have a lot to catch up on. Read on for additional tips on what to do after this.