The other day a friend and I went to a free seminar that had been promoted on Ecademy - www.ecademy.com - an online networking group that I am a member of. Normally I am a bit sceptical about ‘free’ seminars because they often turn into a huge sell for the person or company involved. But I am always keen to learn new techniques and approaches and because the recommendation came from Ecademy I thought it would be worth going along – even if just to network with peers.
The seminar was fairly interesting – not rocket science but I did take away a couple of tips. The presenter was charismatic, professional and immediately engaged the audience. The interesting part came at the end when he said he wanted to personally invite a few people for breakfast the next morning and asked the people interested in meeting him to hold up their cards. The slick events team ran around the room voraciously snapping up the cards that were eagerly held out.
My friend was very keen on hearing more and attending the breakfast meeting but she has a small child and lives a long way out so decided that she would go to talk to him after the seminar to see what it was all about. On a group level the presenter was charming and engaging but she was disappointed that on a one to one level he was disinterested and dismissive – basically saying “if you come tomorrow then you will find out what it is all about”. The ‘sell’ started to appear.
Now I know nothing in life is free but it wouldn’t have hurt the guy to spend a little time. It made me think more about Ecademy though. I had perceived it as a networking group and now I am starting to see it as more of a distribution channel. Sure, we all want to do business by networking but I am starting to feel like I am a part of a glorified distribution list - easy prey. And here is my point: You have to be very careful when you give a recommendation, no matter who you are, because if it doesn’t work out then it reflects badly on you. Certainly I will look at future invites like this with a slightly raised eyebrow.
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