Managers and freelancers often end-up working in a new city in or outside the country for short or medium term. Sometimes they have free time there, but that is not much fun without friends. The project is often over, before a local circle of friends and acquaintances can be established. In this article, we are giving you some tips on how to get quickly connected at a new place, instead of sitting alone in the hotel bar.

Perhaps you have contact data bases of your networks, for example, international clubs (Rotarians, Esperanto, Dance Association, Toastmasters, BNI, ...) or your university's list of alumni (great examples here are the European Business School and the International Space University). Many international companies also maintain a database of their former employees (McKinsey for example) or the ex-employees themselves are managing an extensive alumni network, as for example Gemini Consulting. As these contact lists (which are mostly online) usually show position, experience, interests, etc., they help you to connect with people with whom you have most in common.

In addition, there are also national and international Internet platforms where you can find business functions or events in your professional areas, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Meetup, Xing and Internations.

Hopefully our tips help you to quickly get in touch, so you may already be on a networking event in your new city on the day of arrival, even before you check into the hotel.