As Seen in the Marietta Daily Journal

Networking Event Provides Business Contacts For Women

Tuesday, September 23, 2003 3:59 AM EDT

By David Burch

Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

SMYRNA - Bonnie Ross-Parker looks at the monthly networking sessions she organizes in her Smyrna home as events that combine less work and more pleasure - an appealing formula for the women who come both for social interaction and to promote their business endeavors.

"I think it fills a need, and that's a need for informality," she said.

During the past 18 months, Ms. Ross-Parker has hosted about 20 women's networking events from her home, with a combined attendance of about 800 women so far. With no shortage of traditional networking opportunities, she said she wanted to organize programs specifically for women to share "conversation, collaboration and creation" with their peers in the world of business.

"I just saw the need for women to have the opportunity to connect with each other," she said. "Women communicate differently. Women find commonality more quickly, and there are lots of places where men and women can go to network - It creates a different environment when a man is present."

Each monthly meeting includes between 35 and 40 women who pay $20 to participate. In addition to the opportunity to exchange business cards, the events include a light supper and some sort of entertainment.

Ms. Ross-Parker does not advertise the events, with women getting involved entirely through word of mouth. And unlike many other networking groups, participation in the gatherings does not require any membership.

Women attending the most recent gathering last Thursday included a Realtor, a medical consultant, a massage therapist, a hat maker and the owner of a public relations firm.

"People like to be around people they have something in common with," said Carolyn Zakrzewski, owner of Kennesaw-based personal shopping service Findgift.com.

Ms. Zakrzewski, a first-time participant at Thursday's gathering, said she discovered the group through a friend and fellow businessperson.

"I just like meeting women who are in my same shoes," she said.

Kennesaw-based financial adviser Wanda Silva, who has attended two of the networking gatherings, said she was attracted to the events because of the reputation they have developed in the local business community.

"I kept hearing about Bonnie's gatherings," she said. "It's a group that has become very well known in Atlanta."

The gatherings have become a source of inspiration for Ms. Ross-Parker, who has turned her experiences into a book called "Walk in My Books: The Joy of Connecting." The book shares stories from former gatherings to teach readers how to become successful in business networking while also turning networking into a pleasant experience.

The book is a first for Ms. Ross-Parker, a former editor for the now closed Vinings Gazette newspaper.

Publisher Barbara Keddy, who attended Thursday's gathering, said the networking events create the kind of atmosphere that many businesswomen yearn for.

"This is personal networking at its finest because people drop their pretenses and their masks when they walk in the door and they're just very authentic and sincere," Ms. Keddy said. "I know this is the type of forum women are looking for."

dburch@mdjonline.com