Let’s Lunch is coming to Spain and I have the privilege of leading its launch.
No more eating alone, as the book Never Eat Alone says; no more lunches where you don’t know who’s going to turn up; no more lunches where you can’t find interesting people to chat to… the time has come to make the most of lunchtime, or dinner, or after-work drinks 😉
If you know me, you’ll know I’ve been practising professional networking for years and I’ve signed up for all kinds of professional events where you can network.
For my taste, the best moment is lunch, and it’s where I’ve made my best contacts so far. It’s a break you have to take every day anyway, and if it’s well organised you can get even more out of it. I’ve been a regular at the lunches of the Asociación de Marketing de España (Spanish Marketing Association) and of the French-Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the British, the Belgian and the American ones… and the experience has been unbeatable at all of them.
That’s why, when I discovered Let’s Lunch, I knew it would be well received, because we Spaniards are very good at networking, as LinkedIn’s latest study shows.
But how does Let’s Lunch work?
It’s very simple: use your LinkedIn profile to create your Let’s Lunch profile, indicate which geographical areas you move around in, what your interests are and what your needs are. Let’s Lunch has an algorithm that will suggest interesting profiles you can meet up with for lunch.
With today’s social networks you get to know someone virtually, but Let’s Lunch helps you take the next step: inviting them to lunch. It couldn’t be simpler, because Let’s Lunch prepares a template invitation email to that contact for you, in which you tell them you’d like to have lunch with them to talk about a new business opportunity, a project, a job offer or to expand your network of contacts.
Who should be on Let’s Lunch?
Any professional in any sector, since most of them are covered: technology, finance, communication, energy, events, education… It’s a 100% professional network, so there’s no room for anyone looking for a date 😉
Highly recommended, without a doubt, for consultants looking for clients, HR professionals looking for talent, entrepreneurs looking for mentors or investors, salespeople looking for decision-makers, and business owners looking for partners and collaborators.
And what if more than 2 of us want to meet?
No problem: you can even create a group around an area of interest. There are already a hundred or so groups, for example: Women in tech, Music startups, Big Data, Advertising, Italians in Silicon Valley…
If you run a LinkedIn group or you’re in charge of a department, a company, an association or a chamber of commerce, you can create your own group and call its members together whenever you like.
It’s not all about lunch: in Spain I’ve asked them to leave the schedule open so we can arrange not just lunches but breakfasts, coffees, beers or gin and tonics, because here any excuse is a good one to get together and network.
So if you fancy it, I’ll be waiting for you on Let’s Lunch: you’ll be able to see which days I’m free for lunch and then share your impressions after the meal. It’s as easy as that.
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