About Networking World

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Meet the Networking World Team

	CEO and Founder Brenda Thomson  Brenda is the networker’s networker, the only source for connecting you to all networking groups across Australia. She is also a successful business owner, people manager, business trainer and career consultant. Brenda’s passion is to guide people through the maze of business networking to help them get real results from their networking.  Brenda speaks and trains regularly at councils and networking groups on the next generation of networking strategies. Brenda devised Networking World and the Networking World unique approach to networking smarter not harder as response to her own challenges in business networking.  She is passionate about helping small business owners maximise the results of their networking efforts through innovative and exciting WIN WIN networking strategies. Click here to view a recent interview with Brenda on Business Now TV
	Communications Manager Beth Thomson Beth's  role at Networking World as Communications Manager includes making sure that all Networking World members' queries are attended to quickly and in her ever bubbly and friendly style,  as well as keeping  the events calendar  up to date and ensuring that  the weekly newsletter comes out on time.  She is also responsible for making sure that Brenda doesn't get too carried away with new and exciting ideas. Beth believes in continuous learning, as well as being a qualified secondary school teacher she has a Grad dip in Business Administration and is currently completing her Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment. As well as her role as Networking World Communications Manager Beth also teaches drama with the Children’s Performing Company of Australia and runs Professional Development workshops for the Victorian Education Department, using a resource kit which she developed herself especially for CRT’s (replacement teachers) who may require extra material or resources when in the classroom. . Beth believes in an interactive, ‘doing equals knowing’ methodology.

 How Networking World come about?

In 2003 Brenda purchased a web development franchise. She was told that to bring clients into her business she would have to network.

She had no idea about which networking groups existed, where to find them or which events to attend . She was caught in a catch-22 – until you go to a few events and talk to people, there was no other way of finding out what events are out there or which ones might be suitable for your business.

In her first year, she threw herself into the whirl of attending several networking events a week, armed with her business cards and 60-second ‘elevator pitch’. She quickly realized that she was wasting thousands of dollars going to seminars, breakfasts and other events and getting very little in return. Often the people at these events were completely incompatible to her business. Many  people were there either with the sole purpose of "making a sale" or just as a social outlet and hardly anyone seemed to follow up very effectively.  The whole thing seemed to be a pretty ‘hit & miss’ affair.

She decided that there must be a better way to approach networking - and thus Networking World was born.

 Networking World started in April 2006 as an independent internet-based business networking, advisory and referral service with the mission to foster new and emerging small business as well as assisting existing business to achieve their strategic goals through the development of strong strategic business alliances and the implementation of low cost no cost marketing strategies created through networking.