Networking

To be honest, the term networking fills me with dread, always has.  The whole concept of walking into a room full of people and doing the 'hi I'm Anna' spiel is something that has never sat easily with me, whether at university, mother and baby groups or industry events.

However, when you're working from home, you can feel quite isolated from the 'real' world, so we both acknowleged that meeting other people from the industry would be beneficial for both of us personally and professionally.

So it was with some trepidation that I attended the 'silicon stilettos' meet in London on Wednesday night. As you can probably tell by the name of the event, it was aimed at professional women in the tech industry, as these do's are ususally dominated by men. (Although as an interesting aside, why the tech industry is perceived as 'male' I don't know, surely there is no reason for this gender bias?)

Anyway, the event itself was a good introduction for me into the industry. I met some very interesting people and had quite a laugh. I think the main lesson for me was not to go along to these events on a cynical business card-collecting mission, but to attend with an open mind and enjoy the company of others.