The variety of implementation examples and topics covered, corresponds to the diversity of networking approaches. The role of the Chief Networking Officer is yet to gain importance and we were pioneers in defining the role and describing it! Welcome to the future.

And networking…  To quote Marie-Sophie Blondeau: ”Networking? You do hate it, or love it, or live it.  So what? Not any need for reading a book about it! You may think so. Then… Think about it again: This witty, inspired and inspiring  Brainsbook on Networking may surprise you… Enjoy it! “

The Brainsbook on Networking enabled everybody with access to internet to read, to critique, become an author or even an editor by voting the most relevant articles on networking which where then published in the brainsbook…

To quote the publisher of the blogpaper: “Instead of a few people controlling the majority of what is being published and therefore read, theblogpaper aims to put the majority in charge. We believe in the power of the community, rather than in the power of the individual.”

 We agree;-)

Your own customized editions of the Brainsbook on Networking !! 

This means you have a perfect X-mas gift for your business partners, your employees, your community or your network. This includes:

-  your own coverpage especially designed for you (including your logo/name/picture)

- your own personal introduction and your own last page (about yourself or your company for example)

- a few more possibilites are available upon demand.

For more information and ordering: vienna@brainswork.at or +43 1 7298900

Dr. Bernd Baumgartl

The Brainsbook community is very sad to announce that Brainsbook author and esteemed networking expert Dr. Bernd Baumgartl has recently passed away in Vienna.

Born in Salzburg, Bernd was Executive of the Navreme Knowledge Development KEG and has served as faculty member and visiting scholar at a variety of institutions such as the European Peace University and the London School of Economics. Throughout his professional life, Bernd work in projects throughout Europe and beyond on topics like conflict resulotion, environment, education, capacity building and public and private sector development. He was a passionate networker who spoke various foreign languages.

A lot of Dr. Baumgartl’s work was related to fostering and strengthening European partnerships. “Networks are so characteristic of Europe that they’re actually a key principle of the EU”, he wrote in the Brainsbook on Networking. He also touched the topic of networking benefits: “Networking may sound like an ordeal, sometimes we all feel the time, the money, the energy, the ideas may have been better invested elsewhere. However, if we document, analyze and exchange our networking experience – we’ll not only be able to manage and use our own networks, but also turn our networking skills into much demanded and well-paid expertise.”

An avid network manager and highly skilled expert, Dr. Bernd Baumgartl will be missed by an international network of friends, colleagues and partners.

In fact, everyone’s network  – our ego-network – is much broader than we think. In ‘Define Networking’, Selma Prodanovic writes: “That ego-network consists of personal and business contacts, family members, friends, business partners, acquaintances and others. It may provide and create assets such as information, ideas, business opportunities, innovation, clients, emotional support, friendship, financial capital or power.” The mom you met and exchanged numbers with at your kids’ playground belongs to that network as much as your favorite colleague or your schoolmate who now lives in Australia. With tools such as Facebook and Twitter, our networks tend to grow exponentially and sometimes even uncontrollably.

So what is, ultimately, networking? At its simplest, networking is network management: making the best out of the ties and connections that define you. However, “networking is also about embedding and using resources – in other words, giving and taking – from and in networks, crossing gaps and solving problems in creative ways”, writes Selma Prodanovic.

Networking is an investment, into deepening your skills, learning to expand them and profit from your network. And speaking of investments – why not invest today into your own copy of the Brainsbook on Networking?

With 40 authors from 15 countries, the Brainsbook on Networking is the world’s first Brainsbook – inspired by leading experts and written by an international community of internet users. Released in June 2009, the printed edition of the Brainsbook on Networking offers 240 pages of real tips and real experiences by people as diverse as networking itself.  In it, newcomers and networking professionals alike will find food thought and useful networking tools.

The Brainsbook on Networking has been an amazing journey between the offline and online worlds, from executive careers to social activism, from Australia to Brazil via Darfur and Helsinki. The publication of the printed edition in June has brought us to the final destination. However, as in any journey, reaching our destination doesn’t mean that the journey ends there. That is one of the reasons for this blog – to seek out new destinations and ideas for the Brainsbook on Networking and the Brainsbook community.

The other reason, of course, is to share exciting insights into the Brainsbook’s contents and continue sharing thoughts, visions and outlooks from within and beyond the networking world.

Welcome to the Brainsbook blog!

To learn more about how you too can get your copy of the limited original edition of the Brainsbook (with contributions in English and German), visit the About page.