Ladies, Take the Pain Out of Networking in the Bay Area

I came to understand the value of networking fairly on in my career. I started attending networking events in my early twenties, but in retrospect, I was doing it wrong.

My kind of networking was shallow and felt transactional. I’d frequently attend Girl Geek Dinners and other events designed for women in STEM fields. There’s nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t for me. I often failed to connect authentically with people or would only make one or two contacts and leave feeling like I could have made more out of the evening. I wasn’t much of a go-getter, either. Rather than fearlessly initiate, I would wait for people to reach out to me…usually to no avail.

Luckily, I’ve been seeing mentorship circles pop up more and more in the past few years. This may be due Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” syndrome. It could alternatively be a biproduct of Ellen Pao and Susan Fowler’s plights. Whatever the reasons, I’m so happy that they’re becoming more ubiquitous from San Jose to San Francisco.

Here are three that I recommend for women trying to expand their networks in the San Francisco Bay Area and potentially find a mentor. These are also great ways to break out of your comfort zone.

Mentorkind

Mentorkind is only a few years old, but I believe it will rapidly gain success. It already draws quite a crowd! At a Mentorkind event, you’ll have an hour to mingle, read through the list of present mentors, and choose three.

You’ll listen to a keynote speech and enjoy a panel before splitting off into groups. Each mentorship session is twenty minutes long. At the event I attended, there were no more than four people per mentor. Everyone gets a chance to talk. It’s up to you to make the connection and ask your mentor if you can keep in touch.

Six Degrees Society

San Francisco is one of many cities where Six Degrees Society hosts events. I first found out about them through their collaboration with Yes Supply. Events vary from getting professional headshots to workshops with career coaches.

Before attending a Six Degrees event, you submit a profile with details about your background and interests. The Six Degrees team uses that information to match you with two other attendees who you speak to for 15 minutes.

A few hours before the event, you’ll receive a full list of the attendees with their bios and your two matches. This is great because you’ll have an idea of who you’ll be speaking with and vice versa. If there are others attending who you’d like to connect with, be sure to get there early.

Six Degrees is great because it curates matches for your but also makes it easier to forge connections on your own.

Levo Mentorship Circles

Levo isn’t exclusively a mentorship or networking group, but it’s one of my favorite components. Roughly nine women attended the mentorship circle I attended. It was just enough to get a good conversation going while still leaving space for everyone to have their voice heard.

I found that a circle-style conversation with prompted topics allowed everyone to get vulnerable and voice their needs, which is hard to find. Huge networking events with hundreds of attendees can often seem like a bragfest.

As with any networking event, it’s your responsibility to follow up with the contacts you’ve made either via Linkedin request or a follow-up email. Be as genuine as you can in your conversations and post-event correspondence. Don’t hesitate to ask for favors, but also be willing to grant favors. A surefire way to go above and beyond is to ask for introductions to any contacts they may have who would be great to have a chat with regarding your industry. After all, information interviews can lead to introductions and referrals, which can lead to professional opportunities.

Brooke Lark

Ultimately, I think it’s about attending the networking events that work for you rather than filling up your schedule with four networking events per week.