A week or so ago I posted a note about reading How to Start a Conversation and Make Friends (worth reading), and I had a comment posted to the blog by author Don Gabor. I like that kind of follow up, so I sent Don a note and a Linked In connection request, and that in turn led to an hour call talking about what he does, some ideas I have for the PASS Summit, and about my efforts to learn and improve my own networking skills.

As we talked about my ideas for the Summit (which are definitely not fully formed yet) Don mentioned that while he had not worked with database people (my words) before, he said that he'd expect them to be very similar to doctors, engineers, and attorneys (is that good you wonder?) in that he would expect them to be smart, methodical, and typically a bit reserved about their networking efforts. At this point I'm interested, because I believe in the value of training, and I'm thinking that here's a chance to learn from someone who focuses on it, the proverbial subject matter expert.

What immediately seemed very very interesting was - could I bring Don (or someone like him) to the Summit? I struggle with networking, and from the comments here and discussions elsewhere I know many of you do as well, so instead of just talking about networking, maybe we should have someone teach all of us! Maybe that's an hour session, maybe it's a 4 hour workshop, maybe it's a keynote. Don't know yet, and in fairness while I have read his book and talked to him for an hour, it's probably a little early to make that larger commitment. But...I'm curious, how many of you that plan to attend would find an opportunity like this interesting?

I asked Don about just doing some initial consulting with me because I'm hoping at least to have a few networking events that go well, and he seemed to have the knowledge to help. One of the ways that Don converts brand into money is by doing phone coaching, so rather than drag PASS funds into the mix so early on, I signed up do to the coaching, we'll four sessions each of 1.5 hours. My first assignment is to write down three goals and then we'll build some details around how to achieve those goals (which I'll share with you next week). It's not cheap, $400 for 6 hours, but I do believe in training and this is an area where I'm weak, and I want to take Don for a test drive before I start talking to the PASS Board about inviting him to the Summit.

Interestingly, our call never felt like a sales pitch at all. Like many of you I can typically detect when a conversation is leading to a financial objective, and the warning buzzer never sounded. I'd say that it felt like...networking. I was interested in his experience as related to my interests, he was interested in my comments and reasons behind reading the book, and that just lead to a good conversation.