Alternative Places to Network

"I think there's something about the shared pain or challenge, the goal that knocks down barriers that I wouldn't be comfortable knocking down [at] a standard cocktail reception," Cody says. "There's some sort of common bond."

Talk to Strangers

Rosalind Resnick, founder of Axxess Business Consulting (and a contributor to Entrepreneur magazine) may not have scaled mountains, but the working mom, who works and lives in New York City, is on the John Hopkins University undergraduate advisory board, and owns a second home in Long Island, is a globetrotter on a weekly basis.

"A lot of the best contacts I meet have been with the person sitting in the seat next to me," Resnick says. "Think about it -- if you're on a business trip, flying from New York to Chicago or to LA, chances are that most of the other people on the plane are probably going to be business travelers as well."

In fact, Resnick doesn't let a moment go by when she's not scanning her surroundings and the potential peers around her.

"You might think you're getting on that plane to fly to a conference in San Francisco," she says. "[But] maybe at the conference you're not going to meet anybody who's really going to help you. Maybe that person who's going to help you is sitting right next to you on the plane."

A good way to start a conversation on the plane is to ask where someone's going and where he's from. Then, before you talk about yourself and your business, find out his interests and pain points. These conversations create the trust and sincerity that form a strong networking relationship. The bottom line, Resnick says, is simply to take the initiative and talk.