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In a publishing COVID-19 world is networking still a thing?

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OPINION

There was a time when I was a monthly columnist for Publishing Executive magazine. Each year my editor asked me to do a tips and tricks article offering suggestions for a healthy and successful publishing career. 

One of the core elements I always suggested was that knowledge is power, and industry knowledge is employment power. If you can speak knowledgeably of the entire media process, you are a more desirable candidate for the job you have or, perhaps even more importantly, the job you want to have.  Understanding what the other departments do is of vital importance.  Inter-departmental communication and knowledge facilitate the teamwork of successful and efficient organizations. 

On November 1, 2001 in that year’s Tips and Tricks article I fleshed out in some detail the following list. 

  1. Excellence matters, but not as you might expect.
  2. Marketing yourself is part of your career goal.
  3. Staying current is not nearly enough.
  4. Be positive.
  5. Network, network, network.
  6. Have a plan.
  7. You have a career, not a job. 

What strikes me today is number 5 on that list. I wrote the following almost twenty years ago.

Network, network, network.

“People usually think about networking when they start looking for a new job, but in reality, it is your responsibility to your career to network every day. Networking is the correct path to a base of industry knowledge that is invaluable. You will make important friends, become knowledgeable about what is happening in other companies throughout the industry and just as important as everything else, you will become visible rather than anonymous.”

That was twenty years ago, I bring this up today, realizing that networking may be hard or near to impossible for an extended period of time due to COVID 19 and the increasing use of zoom meetings. If forecasters are correct, those industries that can now work mostly from home will continue to work from home. That puts a strain on making new industry friends and makes it harder to share industrial knowledge.

Additionally, in-person meetings and in-person conferences may, in large part, be a thing of the past. If that is so, it strikes a dagger in the ability to network. The loss of networking is a loss to both the industry and our careers. There is no technical replacement for the power of the schmooze.  And that is a loss not only to each individual but to the totality of the industry. Cross-pollination of ideas happens when people schmooze and make new career friends.

Perhaps my personal vintage makes the loss of the ability to network seem a more significant loss than to some other generations, but at this point, I think those that have experienced the in-person meetings and association conferences will miss them dearly. Careers have been made by meeting the right person at the right time, mine included.

Another thing I wonder about, admittedly tangential to this conversation, is without in-person meetings how will specific aspects of our business be transacted. Will buying printing and negotiating with new vendors become a virtual process? Will visiting a printing plant before signing a printing contract become a zoom process? Perhaps it will. I could make a case that it would save modest amounts of money and, in some respects, could be more efficient. But I will stand on the principle that seeing a plant and its operations run is the only way for an accurate professional evaluation.

We will see many changes in the near and far future due to the pandemic effect on humans and on businesses. It is a cliché by now, but there will be a new normal and by extension perhaps a new way to effectively network and, more importantly, to schmooze. 

Bo Sacks
President, Precision Media Group

This commentary originally appeared on Bo Sacks daily newsletter and is re-published with kind permission. You can subscribe to Bo’s e-newsletter here.