Attended a session today on networking skills. I wanted to test whether my understanding of networking was the same as most other people. So it is only fair to say what I believe: Networking is not about selling. Networking is not about building your profile. Networking is not about gathering as many leads as possible. IMHO, networking should be about giving as much as you can. You attend these functions to meet other people – and try and help them as much as you reasonably can – if not at that moment, down the track. (Assuming of course they are worthy of your referral.) I believe the more you give, the more you will get in return. But here is the catch: you can not do so with the expectation of getting it back. (There is fine line between knowing you will get something back and expecting it.] To be fair to the presenter and this particular model, it was pretty close. Selling and lead-gathering was suitably de-emphasized. The whole approach was one of the least cynical ...