PMcrunch

There are many great places for project managers to network, keep up with developments in the profession, tune in to new opportunities, and find opportunities for career growth.  On a more immediate basis, networking today is also full of helpful opportunities to solve current problems with the assistance of colleagues in the profession.  So, in this  era of social networking, I thought I would put together a post of where some of the best project management networks can be found.

Here is my "8 Big Spots for Project Managers to Network" list:

Project Management Meetup
This is an interesting crossroads of online and in-person.  the idea is to start a local project management meetup online, and organize a physical place to meet.  the web provides a way for people to initially find one another, but primarily to facilitate face-to-face networking among local professionals.  The site gets lots of interest.

Google and Yahoo Groups
There are many good and vibrant sites, but also numerous fairly inactive or dead groups.  Just go to Google or Yahoo, select "Groups", and type "project management", and you will see plenty to choose from.  Note that you will see many that are somewhat special interest within the project management field, often based on location.  Also, the most popular groupings are among those preparing for the PMP exam, and many swear by the assistance they got finding and working their way to PMP certification.  The one that I would recommend to all is PMhub, which has a PMhub web site as well as both Yahoo and Google groups. 

ITtoolbox
This is a vibrant community in the IT field, which is the focus of the site.  There is constant activity here on subjects such as PMP and CAPM certification and earning PDUs.  But there are also interesting conversation threads in areas such as program management, project portfolio management, business analysis certification, ITIL, project management career issues, practical problems solving, soft skills, and more.  The forum is very active. 

Social Networking sites
Social networking sites -such as hubpages, squidoo, facebook, and many more - are places that people congregate, and they tend to gravitate to those with common interests.  You can find and join, as well as start, your own pages and groups.  Go check these out and type in keywords of interest - like project management - and see what you find. 

Project Management Institute (PMI) chapters
These are an old standby, but still very effective.  In my experience, meetings are very well attended, and topics interesting and instructive.  A benefit is that you can earn PDUs for attending, and that surely helps keep attendance high.  But there is nothing like meeting local professionals in person, and giving it your full presence and attention for a little while.  For a deeper networking experience, volunteering will get you involved more intimately. 

Call groups for Virtual Networking
Many groups have arisen the past few years that have periodic networking phone calls, combined with an online presence.  One such group is PM Lessons Learned.

Gantthead
There are many sub-communities that have constant conversations on such topics related to project management in telecommunications, project portfolio management, certification, tools, and much more.  Average community size is in the hundreds.  there are not only opportunities to network on common interests and collaborate with others to solve some of your problems, but also to build an online network by connecting with individuals, as with linked in below.

Linked in
This has been around for a while, but seems to have experienced a resurgence recently.  While professionals have for some time been able to connect and build a network online, the emergence of special interest groups, such as project management, has facilitated broadening networks much faster than simply getting to know others through those who already know you.  At the time of this writing, I did not see a specific project management group.

 
The interesting thing about all of this is that it is mostly virtual!  A few years ago, most PM networking would surely be more oriented toward going to meetings.  But today, the opportunity to develop strong and vibrant relationships across the web is a very exciting and powerful development.
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John Reiling, PMP
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