With the holiday season coming up fast, it is perhaps the time to repeat the simple advice that now is the time to be making phone calls and trying to schedule meetings.

One of the great misunderstandings about networking is that things slow down during the holidays. Nothing could be further from the truth.

With any luck, even your typical road warrior won’t be traveling for business much and will be doing less work next week. Hopefully they will become bored and welcome your calls.

For those of you who can’t think of any other excuse to make phone calls to old friends, what better excuse is there than to wish them a happy Thanksgiving and find out if they are having turkey for dinner? (Easy questions are the best.) Really, this is one of those times of year when even those members with little imagination can come up with a valid excuse to pick up that 400 pound phone and have at it.

If things are quiet around your home office over the next few days, take the time to make a list of everyone you want to call. Be organized and starting early next week, make all of your phone calls. Since there is plenty of time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, have your calendar out and try to get a few of those individuals committed to a cup of coffee in the morning or better yet a lunch. Their work load is likely to permit such frivolity and you may as well take advantage of it.

For those of you who still fear the reaction, remind yourself that this tends to be a season of good cheer. While there are a few grumpy types among us, most people will answer their phone with a very friendly “What do you want?” Oops! I meant “How may I help you achieve your goals for the year?” Or, the ever popular “How can I be of service?”

Whatever the response, I can assure you it will be friendly, at least if you are calling your fellow members of The FENG.

Who knows? Perhaps this is even a good time to track down ALL of your old friends with whom you have lost touch? Why not really go to heck with yourself and search the full membership directory of The FENG? See if you can find any people you have missed since you joined who worked at firms where you have worked? Perhaps you overlooked them when you reviewed the new member announcement or never looked through the full membership directory for long lost friends. (As you know, old friends are the best!)

This really is a great time of year for networking, so please don’t sit around waiting for others to call you. You just never know how excited others will be to hear from you unless you give it a shot.

Regards, Matt