2009 in review – Networking around Spain

Who would have told me that in 2009 I would travel the length and breadth of Spain…

My time at XING has certainly been very fruitful and has let me “evangelise” about the advantages of professional networking and of using professional networks, for SMEs and multinationals alike, and for the self-employed or freelancers as much as for executives.

Let me walk you through my tour around Spain by way of the 16 most significant talks I have given this year.

• February 2009. Cámara de Comercio de Álava (Álava Chamber of Commerce). Talk: SOCIAL NETWORKS, how to make the most of them in business. Thanks to the Club de Marketing de Navarra they called me for this talk. They treated me like a king.

• 19 March. Expoelearning. Barcelona. I took part in the debate: “Training uses and potential of internet television and social networks” I shared the round table with: Mr Moisés Rodríguez*: Deputy Manager of Technology at the UOC and television reporter, and with Pol Santacana, Head of Professional Communities at Viadeo.*

• 21 April. DIRCOM. Seminar on Social Networks organised by Dircom and Ketchum. Expert panel moderated by Teresa García Cisneros of Ketchum, with: Ícaro Moyano of Tuenti, Nacho Puell of 11870.com, Félix López Capel of Xing, Miguel Ángel Orbaneja of Ikea, María Ferreras of YouTube, Luis Rivera of Telefónica/Keteké, Christopher Moser of MySpace and Roberto Manzano of Mohook. Quite an event, organised by Ketchum, which brought together more than 200 communications directors at the restaurant of the Palacio de los Deportes in Madrid.

• 24 April 2009. Official launch of Xing Asturias. Pino Bethencourt and Félix López Capel. An introduction to XING and the Power of Networking. It was a real pleasure to meet Pino, one of the leading figures of networking in Spain, with an extraordinary sense of humour. And what can I say about Asturias: Inma Eiroa and Javier Bravo were excellent hosts.

• 14 May 2009. XING ARAGÓN. Hotel Puerta de Zaragoza, Talk MARKETING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS. I gladly accepted the invitation from Miguel Angel Martin, XING Ambassador for Aragon; besides, with the AVE high-speed train you are in Zaragoza in no time, and it is a city I adore – I feel right at home there.

• May 2009. Hoy es Marketing. Pamplona. 800 attendees. Social Networks, marketing tools for business. At this event I reached my ZENITH, because speaking to 800 people is no mean feat, the auditorium was impressive and speaking at Hoy es Marketing was a big challenge for me.

• April 2009. XING Valladolid launch . I spoke about XING and the business opportunities offered by professional social networks, and Ricardo Montoro, Professor of Sociology at the UAM and former President of the CIS, gave a talk analysing the social network phenomenon from a broader perspective. A real treat to share the stage with Mr Montoro.

• 20 May. Expomanagement. ROUND TABLE Crisis in the media: business opportunities? with Javier Fumero, Editor of El Confidencial Digital, and Javier García Vila, Director of Europa Press. Moderated by the managing director of Burson. A clash of titans.

• 22 May. Hotel Eurostars Madrid Towers. ACN Congress – Asociación Española de Centros de Negocios (Spanish Association of Business Centres). Using social networks to win customers. I could not miss an event where my former colleagues from the sector had invited me to take part. A very pleasant day, without a doubt.

• 11 June. AED. Young Executives Dinner in Barcelona to talk about: “Social networks: networking, advertising and privacy”.

• June 2009. Parador de Chinchón. Madrid. Business lunch of the Cámara de Comercio Franco Española (French-Spanish Chamber of Commerce). Social networks, a new marketing tool for business. My favourite chamber of commerce invited me to its yearly gathering in an unbeatable setting, so I was delighted, and that same afternoon I gave a talk at ICEMD.

• July 2009. ESIC. Madrid. Talk on social networks with Laura González Estéfani of Facebook. A very rewarding session, given how full the room was and how much the audience took part.

• 30 September 2009. Club Financiero Génova. FEDEPE. Networking for women executives. **Networking within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Union. This is one of the events that motivated me most, as it was aimed at women executives; I also had 3 hours to develop the seminar in depth, and I think they liked it. The slides here.
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• **September 2009. SIMO Network. Madrid. Tú a tu PR. Social networks and public relations. My good friend Octavio Rojas honoured me with the invitation and gave it great exposure on his blog and on Facebook; he is a real social media expert. Have a look at the presentation if you like.
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• October 2009. Launch of JCI International. Hotel AC Cuzco. Madrid. “The Power of Networking”.

• **October 2009. Unidad Editorial Formación. Expert Programme in Social Media Management. Marketing on social networks. Thanks to Enrique Burgos, Director of Relationship Marketing at Unidad Editorial.
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A very, very intense year, and one in which I also went to several INICIADOR, First Tuesday, Thursday and Eats & Twitts events, of which I am a fan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010,

May you do lots of networking, go to lots of events and make lots of great contacts.