“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
~ Dr. Suess

So here we are at the final installment of why you should show up to network early. I’ll admit I’ve been holding out on you a bit  because two of these three are more important than all the others combined. Aren’t you glad you stuck with me?

First a little tease. The seventh reason may sound silly, but once again it points to making you more  relaxed and feeling less rushed: Parking. Of course, the later you get there, the further away you will park. It just stands to reason. So, getting there only on time might mean just a few extra minutes of walking — or running — across the parking lot.

On the other hand, sometimes you might receive an unpleasant surprise from the parking situation. A few years ago, I was in a nearby city attended a two-hour event. I’d been to the location several times and I knew where to park. Unbeknownst to me, though, since the last time I had been there the city had turned all of the city lots in to 1-hour parking. If I had only arrived on time, I wouldn’t have been able to contact the organizer to find out where alternate parking facilities might be.

OK, now we’re getting into the meat of the discussion. Reason number eight is all about them. It shows respect. It shows respect to the organizer, the speaker, your fellow attendees. You have made the effort to be there a little early rather than a little late. While punctuality at the event isn’t quite so important as when you are meeting with someone one-on-one, it can still make a difference about how others perceive you.

And that leads almost directly to the most important reason of all:

Reason number nine: It builds your reputation. People who show up early are organized, focused, and serious about building their business. I know if I refer someone to them, they will take it seriously and treat that referral like royalty. If someone is perpetually late, I have to wonder whether they will show that same lack of attention to those I might refer — which means I’ll probably send that referral to someone else.

So those are the nine reasons to show up early. From making yourself more comfortable to possibly boosting your bottom line, why would you ever show up late?

We started this series with a saying from Mom. We’ll check out with another:

“Early is on time. On time is late.”