Written by Christina B. Kragh, IMA Denmark 

Have you ever had such a long break in attending meetings, that you honestly don't know if you want to continue? what if the others don't recognize you - what if you don't recognize anyone? is it embarrassing to show up all of a sudden? what will the others think?

I felt like that after the years of meeting online - my connection to the international IMA was as strong as ever because of my online work for the EC and my close collaboration with former Executive Marcom Sabrina Franchini - we had a strong collaborating online all through the pandemic. 

But meeting with the Danish group - MY group - in person? that was a tough one. Don't get me wrong - it's a great group of people! But in my mind, it was SO long ago we had met last, and I was actually a bit people-phobic by then - plus it was a long-ish drive to where the meeting was... and I'm sure it was cold too, might have been raining... the couch looked mighty inviting... should I just stay home? 

I ended up going - might as well as my company would be invoiced whether I got there or not. And am I glad I did! OH YES! 

It was a Half Training day on how to get the most out of your network - and after the first break, I suddenly felt that same feeling I had had before - it reignited something in me . This was MY network - and no, I didn't know part of them but that's what a network is for - get new contacts and meet people.

I got so many ideas from that one meeting - if you read the article in the member's area on How to get more out of your network, you will know what I got out of it! and more importantly it showed me why I'm still in IMA after 14 year.