Last week, I attended what has grown into one of the biggest business-to-business networking events in Porter County, Indiana. This event has become an annual event and is known as Chamber Network Night.

Through the efforts of the Porter County Chamber Coalition, over 150 businesses were represented at this event. The businesses ranged from your not-for-profit organizations to large regional corporations.

On the surface, why would anyone in real estate want to attend a B2B networking event?

Because of the track record and success of this annual network event, many of the businesses are represented by the owners and/or senior management. These are the very people that most real estate professionals never have a chance to speak with during the course of the week. Yet here they are awaiting to be engaged in friendly conversation.

Even if you were not interested in speaking with the key decision makers who had booths, over 1,000 individuals trekked through the event. These attendees were also other business owners in the community, as well as end consumers.

How often do you get a chance to be in front of 1,000 people asking what you do in one afternoon?

In an age of technology and social media branding, there comes a time that people actually have to see you within the community. How many of these Missed Opportunities Are In Your Own Back Yard?