My friend David Herring and I love to “walk and talk” to catch up on each other’s practices.
Networking is critical for any attorney to build and to maintain a law practice. Most of the time, I have lunch or dinner with people. Sometimes, I schedule a “walk and talk.”
My friend and fellow collaborative family law attorney, David Herring, likes to go for a walk while we catch up on each other’s practice. He and I have busy schedules, so we usually have to plan it a few weeks in advance.
We meet up, usually at a convenient park, and walk around while we discuss current issues with collaborative law or running a law firm as a solo practitioner. We have been doing this for over a year, and David and I really enjoy it. It gets us out of our offices, and we get a little exercise in the fresh air.
Networking with David was so nice, I had to capture it twice!
Coincidentally, I was reading in the Wall Street Journal today about “walk and talk” meetings. The examples in the paper do not resemble what I am describing. In the WSJ, everyone is dressed for an office setting, and it might be inconvenient to have a walking meeting in heels.
Also, the WSJ described situations in which the boss just drops by a desk and requests a walk and talk meeting. In my “walk and talks,” both of us are dressed to walk and the time and location are agreed upon far in advance.
I think networking during meals is a great way to network, but I want to offer up this alternative, because not every networking meeting needs to involve food.
I would love to hear what you think of “walk and talk” meetings or other unconventional ways to network!