Earlier this week I met a colleague, Katherine O’Donnell, director of marketing for Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau for lunch. The last time we saw each other was at the fall meeting of Virginia Press Women. And before that it had been at least a year.

Much had happened in that time. She had a baby – who is now one! I changed jobs. We both took on new roles with VPW and NFPW.

As part of my professional health dashboard, I made a commitment to network once a month over lunch with a colleague. Besides the obvious of getting to catch up with someone I genuinely like, the time was well spent.

Getting outside of the office and talking with someone in the communications field but who does something a bit different from your job description allows ideas to spring forth. I finally had to pull out a notebook to keep up with everything.

By the time the lunch was finished, I had a blog entry (you’re reading it), Richmond items for international colleagues visiting in March, lots of ideas for moving NFPW forward and input on some professional decisions. I offered to share some social media policies with Katherine and provided her with some feedback, too.

Lunch went quickly and as I returned to the office, I was more energized than ever. All it took was a quick power lunch of networking. Beats pasta any day!