Don’t be rude: No business card? No worries

A couple of months ago I was at a networking event I’d decided to attend at the last moment. I didn’t have any business cards on me, and quickly saw this would be a problem. Cards were fluttering everywhere and I had to apologise half a dozen times for not having any on me when one of the people I met did something clever.

“That’s not a problem,” a consultant said when I told him I didn’t have a card on me. “Do you mind if I take a picture of your name-tag instead?” I wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but I went along with it.

After taking the picture, he said he’d add me on LinkedIn later that night – something he said he did for most people whose business cards he collected anyway. Sure enough, on the way home I received a request from him. Since then, we’ve interacted a couple of times on LinkedIn, and I know if I ever wanted to contact him – or him me – we should be able to get in touch fairly quickly.

No business card, no worries. Avoid awkwardly scribbling things down on pieces of paper and use the technology in your pocket instead.