Networking In Raleigh? Here’s Where You Should Be.
A round-up of the best networking opportunities for marketing, advertising and creative professionals.
Creative Mornings Raleigh
Creative Mornings Raleigh is an inspiring breakfast lecture series for the creative community hosted at CAM on the last Friday of the month, led by Jonathan Opp. This completely free, monthly breakfast event showcases creative leaders in our community. The speakers selected either have established, own a flourishing business, or just have an enriching story of how their passion overcame obstacles leading to their success. These talks follow a monthly theme and have included Danny Rosin, Louis Cherry, Dr. Marsha Gordon, Heather LaGarde, Kevin Trapani, Paul Friedrich, and so many more incredibly captivating people. Don’t miss this month with Jedidiah Gant speaking on Reality.
The setting of CAM coupled with coffee from Counter Culture Coffee and pastries from RISE or lucettegrace add to the welcoming and intimate feel of the series. After a long week, Creative Mornings is there to inspire you on a Friday morning and it creates a natural platform to grow relationships with other creative professionals in Raleigh.
Triangle AMA
With multiple events scheduled throughout the year, the Triangle AMA provides one of the biggest opportunities in Raleigh to meet other marketers and creative professionals looking to grow their connections in the industry.
Here are a just a few of the events I recommend getting involved in!
- High Five Conference: After being on the leadership team last year, I saw this conference bring creatives and marketers together in a beautiful, transparent way. The conference drew people together and inspired friendships that will most definitely last a lifetime.
- Monthly Luncheons: Every third Thursday of the month the Triangle AMA brings marketers together at the Brier Creek Country Club for connecting with new and old friends, while learning from an industry leader.
- Special Interest Groups (SIGS): These groups are perceived as requiring some kind of specialization in the subject matter to attend them, which is totally a misconception. I have attended numerous special interest groups of all kinds including Social Media, Higher Education, etc., and have seen value from each. The small group setting provides a platform for quality connecting and in-depth discussion on not only the topic but day-to-day life as a marketer. I have received speaking opportunities, met job candidates, and more out of these organized groups.
Raleigh AIGA Design
AIGA is the largest community of design advocates in the Triangle, guiding the community in design education and assisting practitioners in the development of their professional skills through helping them build quality standards for their work. This group of people is inspiring in more ways than one. They make it easy to want to get involved because their main objective is to be a welcoming community that encourages creativity in new and innovative ways. You don’t really have to be a designer to go and they have topics and events that will interest all types of creative professionals.
Innovate Raleigh
A true Raleigh-focused community. This group is looking to provide more ways for the City of Raleigh residents to provide feedback on how they want to see our city grow. They hold events led by city leaders that give insight on the cutting edge ideas that are currently being implemented in Raleigh and what the future holds for this vibrant city. Joining this community helps residents and city activists like myself learn more about businesses flourishing throughout the Triangle through informative summits and annual education-based conferences. You can also check out their podcast!
VergeNC
VergeNC is a fun, modern event to just hang out and get to know other southeast entrepreneurs and software developers. This monthly meetup hosted by Will Hardison in the RTP is centered around the tech startup community. It’s a relaxed environment for startup professionals to come together to get introduced to new technologies or startup companies. I recently spoke on the importance of search marketing at last month’s meetup and I found it to be a seamlessly comfortable way to make connections in the technology community, and learn more about the growth in the app industry. I appreciate that this meet up’s ultimate goal is to help connect all of the young companies directly with the community through a collective celebration of entrepreneurship.
Triangle TechBreakfast
The Triangle TechBreakfast, also hosted in RTP, is essentially a “show and tell” event for five different technologists drawn from a wide range of industries to demo their technologies. I thoroughly enjoy the diversity in the range of technologies showcased at each monthly event. They have professionals from startups, large companies, universities, government agencies, or new entrepreneurs looking to take their idea to the next level. This event provides strong networking opportunities through potential business partnerships, new business development connections, or just similar passions that develop into valuable ties in your specific industry.
What am I missing? Are there any events you think should be on the list? Post any suggestions to our Facebook page.
