Hey Lori!
Here are 4 LinkedIn posts inspired by your moment on stage at IBTM. If you like them, feel free to post them under your name as is or use them as inspiration to write something new.
Before hitting publish, just make sure your sentences are spaced out (like what I’ve done below) to improve readability and ideally add a ‘real’ photo. That’ll get you the most engagement.
You’ll also notice a short line after the first few sentences. It’s there to signify your hook. On LinkedIn, you have 3 lines and 220 characters to play with before someone has to click ‘see more’ (which you want them to do), so formatting is important.
Happy Reading!
#Post 1 (The Network Nine)
I keep 9 people in my calendar every Friday at 9am.
Because I refuse to let my network become a graveyard of good intentions.
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You know the drill.
You meet someone at an event. The conversation clicks. You exchange contact info. You say "let's stay in touch."
And then... nothing.
A slow fade into the abyss of LinkedIn connections you'll never message.
When someone tells me they're getting married next month, I put their name in my calendar for a month later.
When they mention a big project launch, I schedule a follow-up for after it drops.
When there's something real to connect on, I mark it down.
Every Friday at 9am, I reach out to 9 people.
Someone asked me: "Is that really authentic? Isn't it too calculated?"
I put my family's birthdays in my calendar too.
Does that make them less important?
We all have too much going on.
Intention isn't the enemy of authenticity—it's what makes authenticity possible at scale.
Not everyone makes it into the Network Nine. But if we had a genuine connection, if I told you my network is your network and meant it, then you're in there somewhere.
When someone reaches out asking for an introduction and I respond with "oh, I don't actually know how I know them," I've lost something.
Credibility. Trust.
The entire point of having a network in the first place.
My network isn't a numbers game.
It's not about collecting contacts like trading cards.
After 20+ years in corporate communications, I've learned that quality always beats quantity. Real introductions require real relationships.
And real relationships require real attention.
Nine people.
One hour.
Every Friday.
That's how I turn event connections into actual partnerships.
That's how "we should grab coffee sometime" becomes coffee actually grabbed.
The calendar doesn't make it fake.
The calendar makes it real.
#Post 2 (It's Okay to Be Hungry, Not Thirsty)
It's okay to be hungry.
It's not okay to be thirsty.
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You land. Get your badge. Figure out your agenda. Pop into XYZ sessions. Look at your target list. Connect with a few folks. Set up meetings. Lunch. Back to the hotel.
Do it all again the next day.
Autopilot.
After a while, every event blends together. Same routine. Same conversations. Same surface-level exchanges that go nowhere.
I see it all the time at booth activations and experiential moments. People scanning badges like they're collecting trading cards. Chasing leads. Trying to get numbers. Not trying to make a connection.
I'm a comms person. I'm all about public relations. But I don't just sell brands. I build belief systems.
I want people to love what they're purchasing or experiencing. I want there to be love, not just a sale.
When I'm thinking about a partnership, I have to know you're there for the right reasons. If you're just trying to get access to my customer base or the members of my organizations or the services we offer—it's not enough.
You have to care about the reason you're doing what you do.
Dale Carnegie said have a genuine interest in people.
Stephen Covey said seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Take a beat. Really connect with that person. Let them speak. Hear what's on their mind that day, in that moment, in that period of their life.
Connect there.
Understand what their values are and where you can serve those values.
Real partnerships come from shared values, not just shared goals.
Be hungry for the work.
Just don't be thirsty for the deal.
#Post 3 (The Mask We Wear)
Show of hands:
How many of you feel like you have to "turn on" when you step into the office?
—
When we wake up in the morning, get dressed, and get ready to go into the office or sit at our home office table, we put on this mask.
Or is it just me?
Are we the same people at work as we are with our kids, our spouses, our partners, our friends?
Probably not.
My job as a comms person is to talk to people all the time. To write things to people. To email people. To guide people on how they should talk to other people.
But a lot of times meaningful moments come when they're not scheduled. When they're not supposed to happen. When it doesn't feel like it's my job.
When I'm able to actually just be myself and connect on something that matters to me.
That's when it's real.
Because at the end of the day, we're all humans.
The ability to sometimes take a beat and breathe and just be who you are—that's a burden lifted.
It allows you to then connect with somebody on a level of who they are.
We have to try and find those real spaces.
#Post 4 (What Event Organizers Get Wrong)
I was recently at BRANDWEEK. The communication before the event said: come, bring your full self, bring your joy, bring your questions, bring your curiosity. And it made me pause.
—
After 20+ years going to events, most of them blend together.
You land. Get your badge. Figure out your agenda. Set up meetings. Rinse and repeat.
But this one felt different before I even walked in.
Because they gave me permission to approach it differently. To not just show up in work mode. To actually be present.
If you're hosting an event, think about what you want the audience to feel, not just what you want them to do.
You want them to sign up. Join the newsletter. Buy the product. Generate leads.
But what do you want them to feel?
How do you want them to connect with your brand?
Is it curiosity? Joy? The chance to try something new, to experience something different?
Put that out there so they can feel that energy and find that energy once they're in your space.