By Nina Asher, JA Business Week Student

As we were taught throughout JA Business Week, networking is important to your success in a business and as a business person. We were taught the ways of networking through LinkedIn and other social media sites, we were shown how to dress when meeting new people, and we were instructed on etiquette for social events in business; but there was one event during the week that really emphasized what we had learned about networking: Mocktails.

Mocktails gave the students at JA Business Week a chance to practice what they had learned from speakers and workshops throughout the week with real business people and professionals. It was our chance to see if we were good at starting a conversation with someone we did not know or if we need to practice a little more. Some students picked it up faster than others and they were able to effectively communicate with business professionals. Other students may not have been as confident to just start talking with adults and took some time to come out of their shell and start a conversation with someone. No matter what category a student fell under, by the end of the night all of the JA Business Week students were happy with how they had done and glad they met the people they did. Their network started that night and will continue to grow from now on.

As one of the speakers that instructed the students, more is not always better. Personally, I had many friends who met a lot of people during Mocktails, but I did not. Instead I met about three or four people but made a more meaningful connection with. These people that I met are people that I am more likely to network with in the future, unlike peers who may forget what some of their contacts do for a living. I was able to make connections between the people that I met proving that it is a small world after all. I was also able to find common interests we share that will make these people a stronger network if I start working on something that we have a common interest in.

Overall, no matter what group students fell in—be it the group that came in and immediately made a lot of connections or the group of students that came in shy and timid but made a connection with one or two business people or students that were somewhere in between—everyone there was able to make meaningful connections that taught us how to network.

Watch the JA Business Week video

The JA Business Week mocktails networking event and etiquette dinner are sponsored by First Western Financial, the JW Marriott Denver- Cherry Creek, Sage Hospitality, and Second Home Kitchen+Bar.  For more JA Business Week photos visit the Junior Achievement Facebook page.