“The RoseBouquet”

1. Set up your display early and try to get a good traffic location if you have any choice, or choose one off in a corner if you need to talk to people one on one. This time ours were assigned, but I had a good corner location, and not far from a plugin so I could have the back-light on.

2. Set out a bowl of candy to break the ice with strangers, or offer some other freebie that will draw them to you. Joe had tipped me off on this one, and it did bring me traffic, but I was a bit slow in learning how to ask questions to draw them into our missions’ purpose. It’s one thing to draw in the visitors, but another to hold their interest and get your message across.

3. Be very familiar with your literature and products so you are not hunting for something in the midst of a key converstion. I caught myself hunting for a catalogue of our correspondence courses. I knew it was there somewhere, but I had not memorized my layout. With more practice I’m sure I could overcome that.

4. If you can, offer a mini-experience at your display so visitors find themselves involved before they know it - they will remember you then. Gary Williams, with whom I had caught my ride, had his Wycliffe display back-to-back with mine, and he had an interactive game on his laptop. He placed a student in the chair in front of it and had them play the game, then enter a draw for a prize which he presented on Sunday morning. I saw his success with that plan.

5. Have signup sheets or cards, and ask visitors if they would sign up for your regular newsletter or email mailing list. That will give you a chance to connect with them again in the future.

6. Follow the organizers’ agenda, but if at all possible try to get back to your display in free sessions in case people come back to seek you out. The best conversations happen when there is hardly anyone else around. I sat in on the workshops the college had organized for their students, but realized that I was smart to be found at my display when loner students came by. I could have skipped some of the workshops. However, I did enjoy the one on creative ways of ministry; it included a hands on lesson in making balloon animals and object lessons.

7. Don’t consider yourself off-duty when going for lunch or attending other workshops, or meeting others at your accommodations. Always be alert for an opportunity to introduce yourself, and chat with people and go as far as their interest will allow. This school may be unusual in that the students all seemed eager to introduce themselves and to ask us questions. Sitting with different ones at each meal gained me many new friends. Even in the hallways and walking to and from the Girls Dorm I got into friendly chats. It helps to be outgoing, but at this school, even the shy people were soon in conversations.

8. Have more than enough contact cards on hand. This might have been my weakest area. I had a card wallet in my purse with maybe 10 -12 prayer cards, and two kinds of business cards. The ones with the pink roses background, and listing my websites were gone in no time. I had just one prayer card left at the end. Some places that might have been enough, but at this school I could have handed out many more. I will stock up now. Some of the students were hesitant to give out their email addresses, but were quite willing to take my card. There is always the chance they may try to reach me later.

9. Watch for and recruit those who are ready to commit. I realized after the first day or so, that I could challenge the students to send me testimonies to put on our mission’s website, or if they were artistic, to submit some artwork as we need volunteer illustrators for our tracts.

10. Followup is important too. Be careful afterwards to organize your signups and try to get in touch with those who showed some real interest. One day they may be your co-workers or your faithful supporters.

Networking is basically making friends for a reason. If you like people just as they are, and are able to be a friend easily and quickly make conversation, you would enjoy networking and looking for recruits. I found it lots of fun, but also a bit draining. You may receive energy, but you’ll be giving some too.