I recently read of an individual who spends his networking budget buying airplane tickets. He flies in order to network with other business travelers.
David Topus is a marketing and communications consultant from Atlanta, Georgia. The New York Times profiled his practice of traveling for the purpose of networking, both nationally and internationally. He plans all his business travel for maximum networking opportunities and often travels just to connect with others.
Frequent travel not only allows more contact but the possibility of upgrades as a frequent flier. Getting into First Class is the “golden ticket” for his approach.
The NYT described a few of his trips. One time he flew from Atlanta to South Africa only to turn around and fly home again, ending up with some solid business opportunities. Another trip had him flying from Atlanta to Seattle with connections through Los Angeles and New York. Again, he returned with potential business.
Obviously, Topus’ approach allows for no control regarding seat assignments for the other person. However, by sitting in the premium area of economy class or moving to first, chances are that you will be seated near someone with whom you might be able to network.
This got me thinking. I used to travel 25 to 50 thousand air miles a year. It was not unusual to remain silent with your seatmate for an entire trip. Air networking would take a lot of finesse and a great sense of timing. Most business travelers have no interest in chatting the entire time. Many have work that must get done while they are in the air.
Most of us will not spend our funds buying tickets to nowhere in order to network on planes, but traveling can be a networking heaven. When business people are traveling they are in “business mode.” We can have a lot of great networking opportunities occur as we travel. Here are some practical things we need to remember.
1. Dress for success – always travel in business casual or better, depending on people you want to meet.
2. Travel with plenty of business cards. If you have a brochure or resume, be sure you have some copies of these as well.
3. Keep your networking conversations low key, being sensitive to the desire on the part of your seatmate to enter into any discussion.
4. Take the initiative to start a conversation. Many travelers assume the people with whom they are flying don’t want to talk.
Here are some good conversation starters:
- “Do you live here or are you heading home?”
- “I guess we’re flying together today. I’m ___________. It’s nice to meet you.”
I also found a website called Air Introductions begun in 2005. They coordinate travelers who register with them and assist in seating potential networkers together. The site is no longer active, so it seemed that this was a good idea that never made it.
