This past weekend, we held a small ResellingDO Special Edition event in Las Vegas. The event, which was a ton of fun, lasted only 5 hours, however the experience was the entire weekend. Why? Because Networking is Key for travel hacking and reselling. While we only had 5 hours for the main event, people coordinated dinners, lunches, happy hours, meet-ups and even took over part of a craps table at times.
Networking is Key for Travel Hacking
This leads me to my point – networking is so incredibly important. You see, those hours of dinners, drinks, lunches, provide so much more. We built upon friendships, made new friends, and learned a ton. Those personal relationships that you build at an event will help as you continue to learn and refine your travel hacking skills.
I can’t count how many times I’ve reached out to a friend met at CharlotteDO or a ResellingDO or an FT4RL, because I just didn’t have that specific knowledge, but I knew someone who did. The same is true for receiving texts, Direct Messages, and e-mails from folks.
So, where can you find these events? Well, Dia is holding a FT4RL in Orlando the weekend of May 6th. She’s got an excellent line-up of speakers as well.
If you’re into Reselling, I’ll be releasing tickets for the next ResellingDO soon; but save the date, August 12th, and we’ll be in Orlando as well–a great sourcing area!
Wrapping Up
I cannot highlight the importance of networking. I’ve met people at various gatherings that have flown across the country to attend. Why? Because they understand the value of meeting face to face with people, and breaking bread. It builds a bond that surpasses even that of twitter and facebook.
August 12th? I’m there! Just an hour from my house – thanks!
@MMKate – Great! Can’t wait to see you there!
Yes networking is great and that’s why so much has gone to private invite only groups. Sharing is good until the bloggers ruin everything (present company accepted)
@Gilly – that is true. I suppose I see more private groups in reselling than travel hacking, but the fact does remain… Now about that “present company accepted” — did you mean, excluded? included? exempted? 😛
Nice post. Any suggestions on where to find some lists of gatherings? Personally, I’m looking for travel hacking and fd’s, rather than reselling or family travel. Thanks. Oh, and as for Gilly, I’d venture a guess that it was an error, with the intent being “present company excepted”.
@Christian – Each of the major forums have an area, like the Saverocity Forums, FlyerTalk, InsideFlyer. If you run into any trouble finding them, just drop me a note and I’ll send you some links. I try to post a few times about my meet-ups, and I know PFDigest (fellow Saverocity Blogger) does some in Charlotte every so often.