I just returned from an Emerge Lakeland lunch meeting, and it sparked an idea for a blog post: a great way to build buzz about your business is to get involved in professional organizations such as Emerge Lakeland. These meetings are a great way to get to know other professionals in the area and to share information about your business.

My business, Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc. will celebrate its first anniversary in a couple of months. Do I have people crashing down my door to hire my services? Not nearly often enough. Where have I found most of my current clients? At community events.

Let me tell you what I love about Emerge Lakeland. Today’s meeting was scheduled from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. It featured guest speaker David Shepp, a government relations and public affairs consultant who discussed “political awareness, education and the political process.” I pulled that directly from the group’s press release.

I got to the meeting about 11:25 a.m., where I signed in, paid my money, got my lunch and found a seat. I had time to talk to the people sitting around me. The event began on time. The speaker stayed on topic. He left time for questions. And the meeting ended EARLY. I think it was over by 12:30 p.m. Now, I would have stayed until 1 p.m. if it had lasted that long. I had set aside the time. But to get everything that I came there for, and in less time, that is almost unheard of, friends.

I go to a lot of lunch meetings in the community, and I have to say that today’s Emerge Lakeland meeting was among the most organized and smooth-running meetings I’ve attended in a while. I’ve been getting frustrated lately with meetings and speakers who promise one thing, but then wander off topic horribly. I feel like I’ve wasted my time by the end of it. That was not the case today.

So Lakelanders between the age of 23 and 42, there’s good news for you: Emerge Lakeland is a great place to network and increase your visibility. For those of you who live outside this area, I encourage you to try out different professional organizations until you find one you like. And don’t overlook the service organizations. Groups such as Kiwanis, Rotary, Sertoma, etc. can serve the same networking purposes.Good luck building that buzz!