Venus Networking Function

Recently I tried the Venus Network, a nationwide business referral community for businesswomen. Joining a Venus group means a regular round table where you can share your business cards, promote yourself and your business and find whole new business friends and contacts. There is a joining fee, but the benefits include whole new networks, business friends and referrals to expand your business on and your own mini-website with Venus among others. 

The moment I walked in, I was instantly struck by how popular the network was – there were hardly any chairs left to sit on! I must say this was the first time I’d ever seen a business community where everyone puts their business cards into a card holder for people to select at their leisure as it passes around the table. I was really impressed with this; it sure beats simply passing them around across the table or whatever. Numbers were so huge and time was so limited that there was only enough time for us to go right around the table, saying who we were and what we did. But I did find out that the Venuses pair up to ‘rave’ with each other outside their regular meetings. 

As luck would have it, I timed that tryout so well that I found out the Lower Hutt Venus groups were hosting the latest Venus social function at HVCC on 21 September. Venus groups from all over Wellington, including Mana, would come to meet and mingle over drinks and nibbles, and then settle down to watch Venus women from Lower Hutt give one-minute powerpoint presentations Just one minute to explain what they do and promote their businesses. And for the Venuses who had come from outside Lower Hutt, it was their chance to learn about what their Lower Hutt counterparts had to offer. Presentations included ‘Nourish ‘n Nurture’ natural eating consultancy and why diets and scales don’t work; Rags2 Fitness – for fitness, of course; Jin Cowan photography; Thrive Consultancy; SendoutCards who make gift cards to order; Hutt Valley Disabled Resources Trust, the number 1 trust who make intellectually disabled people visible; and so many others to list here. And here are some photographs of that event. 

So there were my first impressions of Venus. I certainly had some surprises and thought it was a bit…different. I have not yet decided whether or not to join, although their pamphlet boasts of testimonials from people who say it was one of their finest business investments.

If you want to find out more about Venus, their site is www.venusnetwork.co.nz.