Category Archives: How To's

Business, How To's, Networking, News, Rants, Raves and Ramblings, Social Media

Why women are such bad networkers (Response to The Times Online)

Posted by Gina Romero on March 12, 2010 at 7:08 pm.

Times Online Why women are such bad networkers (Response to The Times Online)

So there has been quite a bit of hoo-ha the last couple of days over an article published yesterday by Antonia Senior at The Times Online titled: ‘Why women are such bad networkers‘.

Apart from the fact that this has opened us some interesting debate particularly in the women’s networking circles, it seems that headline of the (original) article has confused the issue from the offset.

Are we talking about the aggressive tactics of corporate ladder climbing or women’s inability to network? The headline suggests the latter however the content covers networking in the broader sense. In my humble opinion the article merges two very separate issues into one.

Sadly we can’t argue the stats that so few women reach the top of the world’s largest corporations, but that is a debate on women and the glass ceiling and not on networking. I don’t profess to be an expert in this area, however as this comment thread highlights, it is a sensitive issue and there is still much work to be done in terms of finding the right balance.

My definition of networking however is creating connections with people to build long term relationships for mutual benefit and success. There is no argument whatsoever that women are naturally excellent at this, in the social and business sense. Women that have never heard of the term networking do it brilliantly without even realising it.

We may not (as a general rule) be as good at blowing our own trumpets as our male counterparts but we make up for it by being fantastic at raising each others profiles, providing support and inspiration (and being open to it) and collaborating. This is a clear example of how as women, we can be outstandingly successful by leveraging our strengths rather than trying to emulate the competitive techniques that work better for men.

I agree that some women are not comfortable in the testosterone driven male dominated networking world. That said, neither are some men. I don’t lack confidence but I do need to be in the right environment. There are a number of different networking platforms – informal, structured, social both online and offline. Everybody will have a different style of networking that suits their personality and regardless of your gender; one of the important factors for networking success is to attend the right networking events.

Ideally this should be with a group of likeminded people, where you feel comfortable and you can be yourself. When we are authentic it is easy and fun to build relationships that have integrity and therefore long term value. Make sure you have a well thought out strategy, follow through with disciplined execution and have a genuine desire to help others.

And yes networking can also be about asking for what you want from others, but first you have to earn the right to ask for it by proving your ability to deliver.

Most importantly networking should be fun. If you aren’t enjoying your networking activities AND getting fantastic results – then talk to me ;)

Here are 10 of my top tips for networking success:

1. Listen, be sincere and responsive (strong eye contact and open body language puts people at ease)

2. A warm smile and a firm handshake go a long way (remember first impressions count for a lot)

3. Focus intensely (there is nothing worse than talking to someone while they look around to see if there is someone better they should be/could be talking to)

4. Show confidence (I believe this comes with being authentic and being in the right environment)

5. Have conviction in your own expertise – but don’t bullshit (if you aren’t convinced that you know what you are talking about, why should anyone else!)

6. Think about long term connections not short term gains (consider at least one thing you could do to help each person, this is a skill that develops with time)

7. Pay attention, have genuine interest and an open mind (we all need tone willing to learn something new)

8. Set goals and create a strategy to reach them – they do not have to be selfish ones! (otherwise it’s not networking it’s just chatting)

9. Follow up – but not just for the sake of it (please don’t clog up my mailbox to tell me the same thing you told me when we met, unless I have asked you to)

10. Authenticity is the best networking virtue – be yourself, relax and have fun (if you aren’t being genuine it will show and if you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right)

I welcome your comments.

Business, How To's, Technology

SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM… lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM – How to manage email spam

Posted by Gina Romero on November 3, 2009 at 3:58 pm.
SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM… lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM

SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM… lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM


Everyone experiences spam issues and it is the bane of those of us in the technology industry field to manage it. While there are ways of successfully controlling spam, it is typical for an influx of spam to occur periodically, when the spam senders find ways to ‘trick’ the spam filtering methods used by mail servers (i.e. the computer that hosts the @yourdomain emails) and mail clients (i.e. Outlook).

IT administrators can tweak spam/security settings on the a mail server, however we need to take into account that we do not want non spam emails being inadvertently filtered as you will not be able to retrieve these. Spam filtering is NOT an exact science and if I was clever enough to find a technique to eliminate 100% of email spam I would be a very wealthy lady. You can guarantee that Mr. Gates has a team on this 24/7.

For anyone who is not familiar with how the spam filtering methods work here is a simple non-technical explanation:

The best way I can explain spam filtering is that it is like using a sieve or filter to separate substances. You can have larger holes or perforations in the filter (which will stop less of the required substance from entering) but may let some unwanted items in, or you can have smaller holes which will be ‘stricter’ in the filtration yet runs the risk of stopping allowable items from passing through.

With spam filtering methods it is much the same and a matter of striking the best all round balance, to ensure that the majority of spam is stopped from reaching your inbox, it is initially filtered at server level, followed by a secondary filter within your mail client or Outlook software. The aim is to train the software to filter as much of the junk as possible, while recognising genuine emails so that they aren’t incorrectly marked as spam and filtered.

Mail servers are set up to filter emails with certain keywords and properties as spam, the server administrator can decide what level of security the server should use, low, medium or high by choosing a setting from 1-10. If we make these settings too strict we run the risk of not receiving emails that may be authentic but contain one criteria that although used for genuine reasons, could also be a known spamming technique (for example sending an email to yourself and using the bcc field for intended recipients).

In order to reduce the amount of unwanted messages in your email accounts, you can ‘train’ your mail filter to recognise most spam emails however this will require some interaction from you to help the software understand how to filter out the spam emails. You can do this by carrying out the following on an ongoing basis:

  • Right click on any spam messages and block sender
  • Check junk mail frequently (daily at least) and right click and add to safe senders if the email is genuine
  • Never click on any links on a spam email including unsubscribe options (This only applies to junk – if it is a genuine marketing email from a company you can unsubscribe. If in doubt just mark as junk and let your PC filter it.)
  • Never open an attachment, image or reply to the spam email.

You should find that over time, the spam filter begins to understand which emails to filter and becomes more intelligent, until the spammers find another way to trick the servers and filtering software and the cycle begins again with an influx of spam.

Spam trivia:

(from Wikipedia)

Where did the term spam come from? It is widely believed the term spam is derived from the 1970 SPAM sketch of the BBC television comedy series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. The sketch is set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes SPAM canned luncheon meat.

As the waiter recites the SPAM-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drowns out all conversations with a song repeating “SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM… lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM”, hence “SPAMming” the dialogue.

The excessive amount of SPAM mentioned in the sketch is a reference to the propinquity in the United Kingdom of imported canned meat products – particularly corned beef from Argentina – in the years after World War II as the country struggled to rebuild its agricultural base.

SPAM captured a large slice of the British market within lower economic classes and became a byword among British schoolboys of the 1960s for low-grade fodder due to its commonality, monotonic taste and cheap price – whence the humour of the Python sketch.