Yes, you heard it right. Playing dress-up with other business owners is work. Naturally. We are members of 4Networking, and we like to do things differently. Well, very differently!

After a superb breakfast networking meeting at Milton House Hotel in Abingdon, UK, we did something slightly out of the ordinary; certainly when compared to ‘other’ breakfast networking organisations. Our members turned up in fancy dress. Now this isn’t just for fun you understand, but also for a charity calendar photo shoot, entitled ‘Carry On Cluedo!’.

Ellie Colyer-Alasquez had a dream, ladies and gentlemen. (That wasn’t said for effect either, she really did have this dream!) She dreamt up this idea for a calendar, and to involve as many 4Networkers as possible. In the end, there were 14 of us that could stay on for this photoshoot, which really was superb fun.

Over the following 2 or 3 hours, we had shots taken in all nooks and crannies of the historic hotel, all taking on a murder mystery/Cluedo/Carry On vibe – was great fun for all involved.

Now, the most important factor to note, is that the majority of us had never met each other before; certainly not in the flesh, yet we all got on like a house on fire. This is due to us all being a member of 4Networking, the UK’s biggest joined up business network. Because of 4Networking, we’ve known each other through the online forums for months, if not a couple of years, which meant as soon as we got in the same room as each other, it’s like meeting up with old friends! Couldn’t be better.

Because of us all engaging in this, frankly, mad set of events, we had a great head start in building on those existing relationships to get to know each other better. As 4Networking state, we have a meet-like-know-trust culture, which certainly displayed itself last Friday. Because of that event, I now know a lot more about these people, understand their businesses, and therefore it creates an environment where business can flourish, all from this one social event.

The best thing about all this, is that it proves that to be a successful business person, you don’t have to be dull! It really can be fun to network, promote yourself and ultimately build up your contact base and potentially win yourself new business, by playing the fool wearing bunny ears and 40′s costumes!

Tell me, where else would you be able to do this and class it as work?!

For more information on 4Networking, then check out 4Networking.biz

For more information on the calendar and the charity that will be benefiting from it’s sales, please contact Ellie Colyer-Alasquez from Candyfloss Dynamite.