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Networking at The Star and Garter - 15th January 2013 meeting

It was a great meeting and my first one with the Warwickshire Networking Mummies! It didn't matter that I might not know anyone because I knew that I'd be made very welcome straight away. I hasten to add, a very warm welcome was waiting for me and the other new networking mummies!

What I love about these meetings is the friendliness and informality yet the ability to talk and network really effectively, in a great venue.

This session was special as it was the first one in the New Year and the theme was 'goal setting'. It was interesting that even before we started on the goal setting we were reflecting first on our own achievements in 2012 and they could be personal or business ones. It was a great exercise to do first because seldom do we have the time (or sometimes the inclination) to reflect and dwell on what went right, what we enjoyed and give ourselves a few moments to really celebrate those achievements fully. We could do exactly that; let it loiter, taste the success and give ourselves a pat on the back.

Moving on to goal setting Stacey asked us a series of questions leading us into the future version of ourselves… mmmmm it was very interesting thinking that far ahead. We all had the opportunity to talk about the impact some of these potential events would have on us. Stacey talked about the key to effective goal setting was to be very clear on the outcomes you wanted, along with writing them down and each goal was paired up with a SMART goal.

What a great Morning!

It was so great to see so many faces there, a good mix of old and new members.

What I love about Networking Mummies coffee mornings is the informal structure. Many of you know our Stratford and Evesham Branch leader Kerry was poorly in hospital so couldn't make it, and Laura Morris and myself didn't want to cancel the event but she had a telephone meeting booked in for 9.30am for an hour which overlapped with the meeting times. So we drove over to Stratford and I went into McKechnies to meet and greet everyone, Laura sat in her car on the phone for an hour and joined us 30 minutes into the meeting. Because it's informal it works like that. It's great if you can make it for the whole session but if not you can arrive late or leave early without being frowned upon.

We meet at McKechnies once a month as it's family friendly, the staff are lovely and Bethan the owner is lovely and doesn't shout at us for moving the tables!

So on with the meeting. So many different things were discussed. We went round the table and all did our minute introductions into ourselves and our businesses. It's a good ice-breaker and always takes up longer than a minute as we interact, ask questions and respond to the stories. We also had two Louise's there so had to figure out and remember which was which- we had 'The better Louise", The older/younger Louise (definately not my idea!) and several more fun idea's for names for them. We discussed how Networking Mummies had grown over the last year and also how it helped me gain confidence and grow my other business. We had a great discussion between Alix (Mess around Ltd), Pippa Jenkins (sing and sign) and Louise (Caterpiller corner) about possibly joining forces to do a big day long event, can't wait to see if that happens! But thats what Networking Mummies is all about- meeting people, sharing idea's, and recommending each other and joint projects are a great part of that.

We shared our products and services with each other and talked about the stresses of juggling a family and business. We then exchanged business cards and wrote down everyones Facebook business pages and Twitter accounts so we can follow each other and stay in touch online.

Those at the event were:

Bethan McKechnie- McKechnie's

Alix Hay- Mess around Ltd

Louise Lyson- Caterpiller Corner/ Butterfly Brain

Pippa Jenkins- Sing and Sign

Judith Holloway- The Parenting Pacemaker

Louise Reddington- Blyth- Ella's toys at home

Stacey Calder- Networking Mummies UK LTD/ The Lifestyle Group

Laura Morris- Networking Mummies UK LTD/ Educate Business Ltd

See everyone in February.