Professional Networking Skills – Sue Tonks
On: Friday 5 June. Part 1: 12.30-2pm and Part 2: 2-4pm

• Networking event (Part 1) including lunch This consists of a ‘working the room’ practical session on arrival, as the delegates come in and have lunch. This will be a standing session of about 20 minutes as the delegates are doing what is natural, standing and chatting. This is a fun and highly informative session on how groups work, group formations, joining groups, leaving groups, joining and leaving the single person, offloading the boring person! We will then go into the more formal part of the session, which consists of: what is networking, building relationships, creating immediate rapport, asking ice breaker and small talk questions. Also answering the question “What do you Do?”
• Networking event (Part 2) N.B. those attending the second session must have been to Part 1 The longer session will consist of the networking structure, asking business related questions, developing the current supplier and user questions, spotting the opportunity (ah ha moment), creating the link to contact them, avoiding the Gollum moment, and preparing the follow up call.

Social Media Workshop – Amy Mollett and Sonja Grussendorf
On: Wednesday 10 June from 12.30-1.30pm. Book here.

This is a new workshop created specifically for LSE’s female professional services staff. We will explore the opportunities for using social media in professional networking and effective communication; learn how to use social media to its fullest extent when hunting for jobs; explore how to maximise conference experiences, and consider the pros and cons of creating a “personal brand”. The workshop format will be discursive and explorative. The aim is to provide participants with the skills to make intelligent choices about a variety of platforms now and in the future, as social media brands have ‘short shelf lives’. We recommend that participants bring some mobile device to the workshop (laptop, tablet, smartphone), though it is not entirely necessary and laptops and iPad can be made available for loan for the workshop if needed.