Along with more than 200 others, Vancouver-based professional Myra Brock came to last week's Women In Networking event at Gateway Medical Campus in Salmon Creek for the food, the conversation and the fellowship.
"We work everyday in a man's world," Brock said. "This is one place where women can relate to other women."
A broker with a local telecommunications company, Brock is an integral part of a year-old business network group that has grown, these women say, partly because of the continuing weakness in the economy.
"It's about coming together in the hope that we can start making things happen again," said Elizabeth Lions, the author of "Recession Proof Yourself!" and the featured speaker at the Jan. 13th WIN event.
Lions said that organizations such as WIN have flourished primarily because tough economic times have put a premium on establishing and maintaining relationships, not just for sales professionals, but for a still-growing number of jobseekers as well.
"A lot of times you need to connect to people to let them know you're still here," said Julia Maglione, vice president of AlphaGraphics in Vancouver and a regular WIN attendee.
Other networking events geared toward the general Clark County business community have also done well, despite a recession that has thinned the ranks of real estate brokers, money managers and small business owners.
For example, the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce's Leads and Needs twice-monthly event at Beaches Restaurant & Bar has maintained an average of 40 to 50 attendees over the past year, according to a GVCC spokesperson.
Another local networking organization, the Jewish Business Network, reported steady interest through the recession, with approximately 30 members attending monthly meetings at Marshall House in Vancouver, according to the group's founder, Rabbi Shmulik Greenberg. "People are always interested in finding new people, new names," he said.
Many of the women at last week's WIN event said that their group, which generally does not extend invites to men, gave them a more relaxed and nurturing venue to trade experiences, create new friendships and hopefully, make a few deals. "Women are a different animal," said WIN founder Cindy Johnson. "There's a different kind of energy, a synergy here."
Johnson, also a longtime employee at the VBJ, is already gearing up for next month's WIN event on Feb. 10, hosted by Just Right Auto Repair in Vancouver.
"The challenge now with a group growing so rapidly is to make sure we don't violate any fire codes and that we have enough parking for everyone," she said.
