The gentle art of networking
A former Warragul woman, now resident in the Netherlands, returns to her home town next week to talk about the value of networking.
Lin McDevitt-Pugh recently published So You Think You Can't Network and will expand on her ideas in a workshop at the Warragul Library on September 1.
Formerly known as Lindy Pugh, Ms McDevitt-Pugh has lived in the Netherlands since 1978 but visits Warragul each year to see family and friends.
Now a management consultant, she credits her Warragul upbringing for many of her beliefs about the importance of networking, both formal and informal.
“Combine Mum’s sporting and former school friends with Dad’s Lions Club, Rotary Club, Junior Chamber of Commerce and Freemasons pals and Grandma’s peers, and there was always someone around we could have afternoon tea with, ask for help or advice, or comfort,” she writes in her new book.
Her book explores the added value of employee networks to companies, but it is certainly not limited to the professional or business world.
Her current work with a group of 18 refugees in the Netherlands is a great example of networking. “Three speak perfect English and can communicate my messages to the others in Arabic. The ones that attend high school speak the best Dutch and translate concepts to the older ones.”
When she and her wife decided to move outside Amsterdam a few years ago, one of the things she was looking for was a community like the Warragul she knew as a child and the Warragul she discovered on recent trips home to see family.
They found it in the village of Krommenie where two years ago she started organising a village festival, with six of the new friends she had made since moving, that connects local businesses and organisations to the people who live here.
“We don’t have as many great places to have coffee as there are in Warragul, but we are developing a sense of being responsible for each other, which is what I notice about the connections I have in Warragul.”
She says these days people are often scared to have the basic networking conversation: “to let people know what you are up to, to ask other people what they are up to”.
The workshop is for anyone involved in small and large-scale businesses, entrepreneurs and startups, community groups and anyone interested in the concept of networking.
It’s at Warragul Library from 68pm on Friday, September 2.
Register at the library or online at wgrlc.vic.gov.au.