It's time to publish my 2021 #100people list

So ... 2020 was a very different sort of year to reflect upon from the perspective of someone who considers themselves to be a networker. I just read back over the blog I wrote this time last year about my 2020 list and so many of the plans I had last January didn't come to fruition because they involved travel. The biggest pain in the ass of all was almost getting to Austin in March for #SXSW20 - we made it as far as New York City before COVID19 put a firm end to our plans & Mary Ann Pierce unceremoniously pushed us into a taxi headed for Kennedy airport & sent us scuttling back to Ireland.

However, like every other entrepreneur out there I assessed the situation, looked at all the options and pivoted. The result was an unimaginably different but nevertheless interesting year despite the bad news coming at us from just about every direction. It's a challenge to move out of our comfort zones but in 2020 we were given no choice. Since 16 March 2020 when I took up (temporary, or so I thought ...) residence in my Donegal porch I've added 366 new people to my LinkedIn network, begun working with 7 new clients (4 outside of the UK & Ireland; 5 are teams I've never met in real life) and by the end of January will have made 4 brand new early stage investments (2 of those into people & teams I've never met in real life ... and that's something I thought wasn't possible and that I would never ever say).

The undisputed highlight of my 2020 however was co-founding social enterprise AwakenHub with Mary Carty, Sinead Crowley & Clare McGee. If you've missed it it's a community for Irish (North & South) female founders. We're 6 months old & growing like topsy. It's been hard work but a lot of fun & our community & the people who make it up are pure joy. The photo above is from our Christmas event last month.

Anyway, back to my #100people list. This is my 5th year. For anyone who doesn't know what it is, here's my blog from January 2019 that explains the process and rationale.

Before I can allow myself to move onto 2021, it's time to confess how 2020 went. I managed to see a fairly poor 39 from my list (10 in real life between January & March & the rest via Zoom or similar). I say "poor" but the people themselves & seeing them was wonderful. Down from 43 in 2019. Sharon O'Dea beat me again this year. She managed 44/100 and her blog about how her 2020 went overall is here.

I say this every year but after the year that was 2020, I appreciate my network more than ever so I'm going to make (much) more effort in 2021. 44 people on my 2021 list have been carried forward from 2020 & I am including amongst my #100people 6 people that I've never yet met. All 6 were on my list last year & I've told myself that if I don't manage to have conversations with them this year then I will give up.

If you have any questions or comments please do get in touch as I'd love to hear stories from any other people who have tried this.

Before I finish I'd like to say a big thank you to a few of the people I've spent a lot of time on Zoom with during 2020, plotting and planning - thank you Denise McQuaid, Sinead Crowley, Clare McGee, Mary Carty, Declan McFadden, Eva Grosman, Jason Fahy, Christophe Rieder, Jill Thorburn, Yvonne Anderson, Kelly Hoey, Mary Ann Pierce, Gillian McColgan, Emma Fau, Declan Barry, Jase Bell, Kerry Ritz, Dan Sutch, Marc Ventresca, Alex Feyler, Christiaan de Koning, Susan Hayes, Jayne Brady, Karen McCormick, Susan Kelly, Monty & Hector Alexander, Ben & Sam Harris - you are my people & long may our collaborations continue!

Mary McKenna is an Irish tech entrepreneur and angel investor. She is a non executive director of several interesting technology startups and a charity trustee. If you enjoyed this read, please share it with your own fabulous network!