I help facilitate the New Haven Chamber of Commerce networking group along with businessman Vic Sockrider on Tuesdays noon at Rack and Helens. It’s open to everyone, even non-chamber members. We used to meet upstairs in a private conference room, but it seemed isolated there and we were far away from everyone downstairs. Lately, we have been meeting in the restaurant itself and I like it better there. We get better service when we are close to the kitchen and wait staff because they don’t have to walk upstairs every time they want to check on us. Secondly, I like being downstairs because we have a better chance of seeing people we know and invite them to our group or new attendees who may not know where we are. The downside is some people can’t always hear the others if they are on the far end of the table. Consequently, you have to speak louder when talking to the group in order to be heard, sometimes. That’s why I encourage us to walk around the table after or before our 1 minute commercials and talk to others face-to-face. One of our networkers will move from the end of the table and speak to the group from the middle when it’s his turn. I thought was a good idea. I need to remind everyone to speak up if the restaurant is noisy so all of us can hear and if I forget, please remind me.
