By Sven Larsen (@zemoga)

August means vacation – especially in the global world of pharma, many of our colleagues and clients are in Europe, where August holidays are even more common. But if a tight budget means you’re finding yourself on the clock while your colleagues and clients are on holiday, we’ve got a week full of ideas that can put you a step ahead.

Today’s installment: networking.

Networking is something we know well at Pixels & Pills – surely you’ve been to one of our tweetups! This isn’t the awful kind of networking you’re thinking about, where you go to “networking events” wearing uncomfortable suits to exchange business cards and dead-fish handshakes.

This is true networking. This is about surrounding yourself with people that you know and like and the ones that know and like you. It’s about people who’ve seen you work, people that you’ve helped. It’s about being yourself: True networking is not phony. You cannot be a good networker if you you’re faking it.

True networking…when’s the last time you did some? Here are some tips to help you jump in:

1. Start with your best bets. You can’t sit here and tell me you don’t know anyone cool. You do so. Just start by talking to them.
2. Be interested. Again, really interested. This isn’t about polite interest. This is about finding people who fascinate you with their ideas and their work, and then…
3. Hearing their stories. It’s human nature; people love to talk about themselves. When you’ve found fascinating people, it couldn’t be more fun to learn from them, learn about them, learn how they see the world. Sit and really listen. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have in the name of work. And once you do that enough, it’s easy to start…
4. Making connections. Once you’ve surrounded yourself with fascinating people, you might start to wonder what you can offer, if they’re all so cool. Here’s the thing: You know all of them. But they don’t know each other. You’re the common thread. Start sewing.

Because we straddle the divide between the tech industry and the pharma industry, what we enjoy most is making those connections. Showing tech people that the pharma industry isn’t averse to new, cool ideas? Showing our friends in pharma that tech ideas are possible, even within their regulated industry? Nothing is more satisfying.

For proof, here are a few pics from a tweetup we held last year – come join us for more Pharma fun this fall (full schedule coming soon)!