When K.W. Goff hired North Carolina-based Internet marketing company Digital Grapevine to create a networking group on the popular LinkedIn site, his goal was to create a way for businesspeople to have meaningful contact without interrupting each other.
"My goal was the same as any business networking group - I needed contacts," Goff said. "The Internet is excellent communication technology and I wanted to take advantage of it."
The result is a group called Linked Local Springfield, Mo. Since its creation July 20, the group has attracted 390 members.
Goff, an insurance agent and owner of Lifestyle Secure in Springfield, calls the Web group a dynamic marketplace for members, because it takes away the time and logistical difficulties of travel.
The idea of a local online networking group is not novel. A search of networking groups on LinkedIn, a networking site at www.linkedin.com geared toward professionals, found 99 groups with a focus on Missouri and eight with a focus on Springfield and the southwest Missouri area.
What makes Goff's group different is the transition it's making from virtuality to reality. To date, Goff has hosted six mixers for group members to connect face-to-face.
"It seems to be a natural next step to meet physically," Goff said. "I always knew there would be that aspect."
The mixers have been small - six people is the high - but Goff said the meetings are not a waste of time. "Anyone who attends one of these mixers comes away with good stuff," he added.
Linked Local group member Sandra O'Connor, an agent with Keller Williams Realty in Springfield, said she joined the group at the urging of her co-workers. "We have some Realtors who are on Facebook all the time. They say that's how they make a lot of their contacts."
O'Connor, who has not yet attended a face-to-face meeting, calls herself a natural skeptic but thinks the group could benefit her professionally and personally. "The more I put into it, the more I'll get out of it. So, I just have to push myself to do it," she said.
Goff's next mixer is scheduled for January.
Other area networking groups have embraced the online ideals as well.
Martin Sansom, owner of Springfield-based Diamond Minds Web Design, created a LinkedIn group in May. Sansom is a founding member of the Business Power Network, a chapter of international business networking group BNI.
According to www.bni.com, BNI is a 24-year-old business networking organization that offers members opportunities through referrals and contacts made at local chapter meetings.
Sansom said his goal in forming the group was to re-create the BNI environment online. "We meet once a week and pass referrals, but being online would give us opportunity to do that all the time," he said.
The Business Power Network has added six members from the LinkedIn page, Sansom said, noting that he has identified a challenge in that some people are slower to warm up to the idea of online networking.
LinkedIn, created in 2003, has 47 million members representing 170 industries in 200 countries, according to its site. LinkedIn's mission, the site says, is to "connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful."
LinkedIn, and its real-world networking counterparts, also can be beneficial to those seeking jobs, according to employment firms. An August survey of 2,489 LinkedIn members, conducted by employment services firm Right Management, found that 42 percent of respondents said they believed it would be "very difficult" to find a job in today's economy.
In response to the survey, Tony Santora, executive vice president for global solutions at Right Management, a division of Manpower Inc., advises jobseekers to use online networking sites to connect with professionals and to showcase their talents.
The Linked Local Springfield group is giving people the opportunity to do that through a job-posting board. The job boards saw traffic right away, Goff said, and jobs come and go often. A high percentage of the group's first members were recruiters and human resources professionals, he said.
"It's one of the most important things that can be done with this group. I really encourage people to communicate that they are looking for talent," he said.
