Why Networking Works

Susan Fisher has been co Chair of Digital Eve Israel since 2006. This is why she still believes.

A network – a real network – is like a family. It doesn’t materialize out of thin air. Digital Eve is Israel’s largest professional women’s networking organization with over 3500 members. You can find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Yahoo but you can also find us in a room together and that is what really makes us family.

Fair disclosure – I have been co-chair since 2006.

There is real proof that the matrix is real. Looking around the room at our pre Corona event I realised I had met most of the people there at previous events going back over 15 years. Over 75% of them have been active in Digital Eve not only online but also offline.

In those days they were young Mums struggling to keep all the plates spinning. But now, but..... NOW they are senior team members in the growth innovation companies that we are known for in this country – the sort that get acquired by Intel or become household names like Waze and Fiverr. So it’s VP this and Senior Director that, Head of Sales here and Global Marketing there. Tellingly, many of them have families and volunteer for charity. I don’t know how she does it.

These gals have been networking all the way through their careers. Not for them the narrow self-interest of the smugly employed. These are women who realized that it is smart and rewarding to be loyal to your industry and your craft and not just to your present employer.

They instinctively have obeyed the first rule of authentic networking – pay it forward. They did and do and that’s one of the reasons that they all got ahead.

They are the real networking thing. They don’t just do the online cop out of three seconds glance at the phone for the network’s updates. Nope. They come out at the end of an exhausting week and speak to as many of the other people in the room as you can.

Old contacts, new contacts, meet and greet, mix and mingle. Being among them is like a cross between being at a party and at a fascinating event. They know how to give of themselves; proving yet again that the nice girl does get the corner office.

We’ve come a long way baby and I’m glad to have shared the ride with you.