Before some time, I got introduced to a Business Networking Group. I was lured into going to the initial meeting (at a decent five star hotel), where a lot of highly enthusiastic businesspersons had gathered to exchange ‘references’ (a cold lead) to each other, over a high-calorie breakfast. As soon as I entered, I found a lot of eager and greedy exchanges of visiting cards with the new visitors like me.
The whole concept of exchanging ‘bijhness references’ looked highly weird, even though beautifully disguised into the five star facade of suits and pseudo-professionalism. Of course some of the businesspersons there were really genuine and not so overbearing, but there were many creepy parasites. I encountered some novice Insurance Agents, Web Designers, Dentists, General Practitioners, Image Consultants, Estate Agents, Photographers, Beauticians, Interior Designers who had just started their career and wanted some ‘references’ to build their ‘bijhness’. During the proceedings, it became clear that it was not more than yet another “mutual back scratcher’s club…”. The dominating proportion of this club was a bunch of wannabes, who did not want to be called wannabes, (or may be some wannabes don’t know who is called a wannabe….)
By the end of the day, most of these wannabes, who exchanged ‘bijhness’ cards with me had called me referring to the ‘meeting’ we had in the morning and asking how can we take it forward? In a time where almost every apartment building has at least one insurance agent, why would I risk doing ‘bijhness‘ with somebody living across the city, only because we had a chance encounter of few seconds termed as a ‘meeting’ in the morning? I could not stop laughing a novice dentist calling up and asking for ‘references’…
I felt as if it was like I met somebody in the morning and by evening I was proposed with the “Will you marry me?” And that too, by 7-8 different suitors…. All from different professions…!!!
Are marriages made like that? Or is ‘bijhness’ references shared like that?
Really, in life or in ‘bijhness’, “No wannabe wannabe a wannabe…” So they get together and make a ‘Bijhness Networking Group…’. Is such a network your net worth? May be some self-proclaimed loud mouth Bijhness Gurus may have an answer?
