PB’s Miranda Chapman to share the power of the ‘black book’ at Kent’s first LinkedIn Local event

Kent’s first LinkedIn local event will take place this evening at the Great Danes Hotel in Hollingbourne. Managing Director of Pillory Barn, Miranda Chapman will be delivering a key-note on the power of the ‘black book’.

While tonight’s event marks the first of its kind in Kent, LinkedIn Local exists in 225 cities around the world. Mark Gaisford, Managing Director of RedSprout and LinkedIn aficionado, has dedicated his time to bringing the event to our county. LinkedIn Local aims to bring likeminded people together that may be connected on the platform but have not actually met in person.

There will also be three insightful talks throughout the event from: David Beeney, an expert in workplace wellbeing, TEDx curator Liu Batchelor and our very own Miranda Chapman. The three speakers will be drawing on experiences from their careers to offer advice to LinkedIn Local attendees.

Ahead of this evening’s event we thought we would give you a teaser of what to expect from Miranda’s key-note.

1. Explaining what a ‘black book’ means in the digital age

Understandably since the rise of social media, how people use a ‘black book’ has changed. LinkedIn means that often you have a connection before actually meeting someone, but it is important to nurture this relationship in person in order to maintain it. Miranda will explain how her approach to networking and expanding her ‘black book’ has altered according to the changing world around her.

2. Anecdotes from her career in the media industry

Miranda started her career at The Times newspaper in 1984, which is where she began to grow her ‘black book’ from the eclectic range of people she met. She also spent seven years at the KM Media Group, where she made further connections, a number of whom she maintains a relationship with today. Throughout her key-note Miranda will be drawing on experiences throughout her career from past to present to share how they have contributed to her own personal growth.

3. Things to consider when networking in person

Considering the ultimate aim of LinkedIn Local being to bring online relationships into the offline sphere too, Miranda will share some key takeaways for networking in person. These key tips include getting out of your comfort zone by attending events that you wouldn’t usually attend, filtering your contacts to make sure you focus on the people you are most interested in and planning ahead to meet people again.