Networking. . . What to do

The most heard advice at school is, "get involved" "start networking" "start bumping elbows with members of the industry." But we aren't given a clear cut instruction on how to start this important step in our career. Personally, I began by joining the ASID student chapter at my school, and all I did was pay my dues and, well, the year passed and I didn't do much. Then I began going to meetings, which were great, because we always had a guest speaker, and I learned a lot, but thats as far as that went. Then our chapter began to be more involved in the community; we gave a "face lift" to a nearby Senior Living Center in Dallas, and that was the greatest experience for me. Now, however, I'm taking a bigger load at school, and don't have the time to go to as many meetings and get as involved as I would like to. . .

But the fact remains, it is important and helpful to get involved in the industry, but you don't have to be physically somewhere to do it. There are online networking tools that can help you meet a great array of people at different levels in the business. Many of these sites offer webinars or podcasts that students can attend, or groups with discussions that you can get involved with and follow. There are online communities, much like MySpace, where you can bounce ideas off of each other on projects, or if you have questions as far as products or environmentally conscious design, or well, anything. Many of us Twitter, and Facebook, and that's great, and fun; just be sure to look for designers or designer groups to follow, this will help you keep up with the ever changing trends.

It is still a good idea to attend meetings any chance you get. Just try not to limit yourself to school chapters. Go to area meetings or if its available to conferences or markets like METROCon or NEOCon. What I love to do is, to go to showrooms, just be sure to call before you go. Let them know you're a student, and that you just want to come and look around. If they want your business when you are a designer, they will let you in. This will also help get your foot in when your looking for internships.

Try these sites:

http://www.linkedin.com/
http://www.ehow.com/
http://www.asid.com/
http://www.iida.com/
http://www.zabitatz.com/

Just to name a few, and if you know of any others please let me know. . . .

Happy Networking!