Community Networking: Effective business networking and giving back!

**Great Idea pity they shut doors now! **Amin 2013

There are a group of people taking the network concept and actually making it work for businesses and giving back to charity at the same time.

Community Bridge is a networking concept devised by Ian Denny and a few of his colleagues to advance on the tired old concept of listening to 30 odd people give a minute elevator speech about their business at some unholy hour of the day.

Imagine speed networking mixed in with a mastermind table with free chips and free entry, and you can start to see how you will not go far wrong at Community Bridge.

Ian Denny told us; “The idea was born out of the recession, and the need for people to get more from networking quicker, and with a great price of zero!”

The concept is simple: The events take place once a month at the end of the business day at around 5 PM. You turn up, and there is free networking to get you started, then the hosts will help you to speak to three new people in the room, then it’s  free chips and sandwiches.

You then are invited to sit at tables, much like a wedding with a seating plan, it is vital you pre-book on these events as the hosts will try to seat you on a table with around 5 other people who are in a different business to yours.  You each then get 5 minutes to pitch your company and USP’s to the table, this is so much more comfortable than standing in front of thirty or so people,  and you can get so much more good information across.

At the end of the session you can then engage with the people you want to explore more possibilities with, and potentially share business with. You are asked to then make a pledge to donate a percentage of that business, to the Community Bridge charity fund.

NWTV met up with the organisers and the people that attend these great events on our video below.