At Dolce Hotels and Resorts in late July, chambers of commerce from Norwalk, Stamford and other towns rubbed elbows at a summer social. Heading into August, the Bridgeport Regional Business Council scheduled “insiders”™ looks” at area manufacturing plants for its members.
As for Anne Young Albanese? You can find her getting to know her associates while learning a little bit about the craft of moviemaking.
Welcome to “Pink Collar” networking, taking root locally after Young Albanese launched a chapter earlier this year of the Femfessionals group that exists for “innovatively connecting ambitious women,” in its words.
Fairfield County has no shortage of groups for working women ”“ the Entrepreneurial Women”™s Network, Ladies Who Launch and Professional Women of Connecticut to name a few ”“ but Young Albanese said she saw in Femfessionals a different approach, one that emphasizes interpersonal experiences as much as exchanging business cards.
The owner of a public relations advisory firm called Albanese Consulting Group (in her free time, Young Albanese also runs a blog called Small Town Mommy), she says she never set out to launch a networking group, but stumbled across the fledgling Femfessionals started by Miami resident Violette Sproul and saw the only way to join it was to start it in Fairfield County.
“I was really looking for a place to build relationships,” she said. “It”™s really a step beyond traditional networking ”¦ Nobody there has the attitude of, ”˜What”™s in it for me? It”™s totally ”˜What can I do to help you?”™”
The first session in March covered tips on how members could increase their income, whether as an employee or business owner. The next session, however, took a different tack ”“ a photography session, with members walking away with professional portraits for use in their business.
Like many other networking groups, the Fairfield County chapter of Femfessionals is taking August off ”“ in September, members move on to the silver screen.
“A filmmaker by the name of Jordan Bayne (is coming) up from New York ”¦ to talk about women and filmmaking,” Young Albanese said.
Femfessionals dubs such sessions “Pink Collar” workshops with the goal of giving members something tangible when they walk away from the event. The Bayne session was suggested by Laurie Mayber, a chapter board member who runs Inner Flame Yoga in addition to freelance writing.
Young Albanese declined to give a member count, terming it in double-digits at present. Femfessionals charges a $100 annual fee ”“ $240 for a group of three ”“ while also charging for Pink Collar workshops. The organization also sells advertising on its website as well as through social media “blasts” to its membership.
While Young Albanese hopes to interest other women in the concept, she said she is more concerned with providing quality networking experiences than with building a big membership base.
