Mediaboss Marketing

In fashion, what's old is often new again.

If you doubt it, just look at the styles coming out this spring: 1950s-style dresses for women and streamlined suits for men just like the characters in "Mad Men."

You may also want to heed another fashion from that era: in-person networking.

You're not likely to see anyone on "Mad Men" use online social networking to forge a relationship, although they do put the "social" in networking with their lunch meetings and after-hour soirees. If you watch those interactions, you'll see a good example of how the art of building relationships has been lost through too much reliance on technical gadgets, one expert says.

Vicky Oliver, author of numerous books on career development such as "301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions," says it's time that people learned some of the best techniques for networking don't come from friending someone on Facebook or tweeting tidbits to strangers. While she believes those social networks are useful, we all should learn to embrace "retro" techniques.

Of course, not everyone will like the idea of coming out from behind their computers and entering a roomful of strangers to network or getting on the phone to ask someone for help, she says.

"Everybody is shy," she says. "But it gets better with practice. Even striking up a 2-minute conversation with someone while waiting somewhere is a good chance to practice your skills."

So you have to put away your smartphone or drop the iPad and learn to take every opportunity to interact with someone face-to-face. Here are some of Oliver's suggestions for honing your networking skills:

Travel the friendly skies. Join an airline club so you have time to mingle with others in an airport lounge.

Use layover times in airports to schedule meetings with someone in that city. Use an online golf club to book a game with other business travelers once you reach your destination.

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Embrace 'retro' style networking