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Many people struggle to maintain their networks during the summer months when professional and trade associations typically cease meeting. A break from these natural networking opportunities need not deprive you of the benefits you gain from meeting regularly with colleagues.

Even if you are not engaging your network for a specific purpose (i.e., a career change, expansion of your client base, etc.), it’s important to stay connected to key contacts. If you are involved in a job search or concentrating on new business development, it’s even more important to maintain regular communication with people in a position to help. But, staying in touch when you don’t have the ease of a scheduled meeting does require some attention on your part.

Begin the summer with a plan for networking. Determine which people are most critical to your goals—a new position, new business, mentoring or simply a place to turn for advice. Assess how often you need to stay in touch. If the groups you network with meet monthly and that schedule has been sufficient, you can maintain the same frequency during the summer.

You will also need to figure out the best method of staying in touch. If you are in the midst of a job search, you may want to have at least two face-to-face meetings during the summer months interspersed with frequent email and phone contact. New business development might warrant the same approach. If you mainly rely on your network for advice, counsel and support, in-person contact coupled with phone and/or email works well—you may only need to meet in person one time during the summer.

You can develop creative ways to stay connected. I have one client who gets together with a networking group every six weeks during the summer. They rotate the location and who organizes the meeting—sometimes it’s just for a drink after work; other times they meet for an early-morning breakfast. Not everyone can attend every time because of travel or vacation, but a core group participates. One of my own networking contacts suggested an early morning hike in a nearby state park in lieu of a breakfast meeting. It was a great way to catch up on business development and get some exercise in the process. (What’s more, neither of us was obligated to “pick up the check.”) Suggesting a walk in a park isn’t going to be appropriate for every contact, but it might be a reasonable approach with people you know well.

Be creative—there are many good ways to keep in touch. It may take a little effort to keep your network in gear during the summer, but the payoff should be well worth the effort.

This article originally appeared in the Sentinel in June 2002. Source