Friday High Five – the news this week

Ten years ago, the whole world of business networking was turned on its head for me.

I was fed up with shouting in bars, seeing people getting leery and bored after the third glass of warm wine.

The formal alternatives seemed forced and inauthentic.

Nah. Networking wasn’t doing it for me.

So in pursuit of doing something completely different, with a bunch of mates, and in all the wrong gear, we headed out on to the moors above Glossop for some “netwalking”.

The original Freshwalks in 2014

From that slightly reckless adventure, Freshwalks was born. It is now a flourishing enterprise celebrating its tenth birthday today. My good friend Michael Di Paola even quit his job as an agency chief to devote himself to building it as a serious business with liability insurance, terms and conditions, and a set of values.

It has set a high bar for business events ever since. I now seek quality insights and conversations, genuine connections, and properly spend time in the moment with whoever I’m sharing time and space with.

That minimum requirement has driven every event I’ve been involved in since.

It’s why I work hard on getting thoughtful and intelligent speakers to theBusinessDesk.com events, who will engage with an audience. It’s why the round tables I pull together seek people who complement one another, rather than fulfil a need to get bodies in for a sponsor. Our commercial partners seem to appreciate that too.

Even our social events have an author, or an interesting personality along who will share something surprising, or spark a conversation.

We have some great events coming up, but we’re also open to new ideas. Afterall, ten years ago, look where that hike in the hills took us.

Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend.