Alternative Places to Network

"You see all these forced places where you go to network and expand, and you always wonder what people's real agendas are when you're there," McCann says. "We weren't [at the hospital] for the business networking, but the business networking came out of that."

McCann and Scher both have the perspicacity to make connections anywhere. In fact, it's a mentality they value enough to teach their sales team.

Scher says if you meet someone in a fortuitous encounter, it's wise to follow up with lunch or dinner. It shows you're investing in that person and getting to know his or her needs. And it's that ability to put yourself out there that Scher says allows "life-changing things [to] happen in the most unlikely places."

Network in High Places

While Scher and McCann's hospital encounter was rather effortless, Steve Cody, co-founder of Peppercom, a PR firm, had to climb a mountain -- literally -- to make his entrepreneur connection. Scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro with his son and a group of like-minded adventure-seekers brought Cody together with two corporate lawyers and a CMO from a technology firm.

"I'm somewhat shy and reserved, so I don't necessarily go out of my way to network," Cody says. "But it's interesting that the climbing threw these six or seven strangers together. You had [a] forced, best-of-all-worlds, worst-of-all-worlds experience."

After the seven-day climb, one of the lawyers contacted Cody for PR counsel on a human resources case. It showed Cody that his other extreme hobbies -- long-distance bike rides, marathons and even standup comedy -- could also be venues to network. He found a niche of entrepreneurs -- people like him who enjoyed taking risks in business and risks in their hobbies.