Following up is critical to effective global networking

You've done the research, joined the groups, met the people.... now what?
Interestingly, people spend a lot of time making valuable connections and networking with new people, and yet they don't follow up. If you find that you are having trouble getting back to people, examine what it is that is causing this to happen. Maybe you don't want to appear pushy, or you assume they are going to get in touch with you, or perhaps you just plum forgot.

If you are in the former category and are concerned with being too aggressive, just make sure that your tone is friendly and that you space your follow up calls reasonably (i.e., don't bombard them). If you keep the follow up call short, and perhaps even provide some additional value during that call, then your contact will most likely appreciate the call. If you are forgetting to call people after an event, treat that phone call like a scheduled appointment, not an "extra" task that you might get around to.

If you assume that the other person is going to call you- or you make another unfounded assumption- then a perfectly good contact might go to waste due to misunderstanding. When in doubt- follow up with your contact even if you thought it was their turn/ don't have the answer for them/ forgot to call them last week. A little bit of maintenance goes a long way when it comes to cultivating your global networks.