Today’s networking was with AWT, of which I’m not (yet) a member.  But that hasn’t’ stopped me from volunteering for their February Women’s Conference.  It didn’t hurt that one of my peers from the PMI Job Fair was singing my praises and volunteering me to some of their leads.  But that’s OK, I was honored to have been so well considered, and I do like helping out.  Not sure exactly what I’ll be doing, but I’m sure it will be fun. 

I really loved working with the Austin PMI Job Fair project team.  I made some good friends, and it helped people, as well as the organization.  I like the idea of having a tangible impact on an organization of which I’m a member.  I also like the social impact, and not in a mercenary sense.  Working at the same company for nearly nine years, I got so busy that I allowed my social circles to dwindle to mostly those of coworkers, and that’s made me more isolated that I care to be.  Volunteering has widened that circle. 

There is the career networking, too, I don’t dismiss that as a value-add.  But volunteering is more than that, and I don’t network for career advancement alone. I appreciate the diversity of knowing many different people from different backgrounds, it’s a learning experience, and if I can help them, great. If they can help me, that’s good too.  But I like building relationships for the sake of the relationships, not for the “what’s in it for me’ factor.  It’s also an outlet where you don’t have to bring your life stress with you, be it home stress, or work stress.  It’s all good, and it generally doesn’t cost you a dime. 

So I’ve volunteered with PMI.  I’m still doing things for Launch Pad Job Club as well.  I may run some more workshops on LinkedIn for them, and that’s free.  And now it looks like I’ll be volunteering with AWTA as well.  This is getting addictive.