Starting in Australia in 2017, it’s safe to say that the LinkedIn Local movement has gained momentum around the world, which is now across 34 countries and 225 cities with 240 events.

Despite this success, one part of the world yet to embrace LinkedIn Local is our very own Wales. However, this is set to change with a LinkedIn Local Swansea group now in place and planning its first event.

So what actually is LinkedIn Local? In short it’s a meetup concept that allows people to connect with their LinkedIn network offline, through meaningful interactions. The idea is very simply to claim the social back from social media allowing people to meet the real people behind the profile pic.

The first Swansea event is taking place at 5pm on the 24th May in the Back Room at Old Havana on York Place. The event is free and limited to 60 tickets with almost 50 already snapped up.

With food and a welcome drink provided and a short talk from digital specialist ‘The Digital Maverick’ the informal networking event is appealing to a wide range of organisations. Confirmed attendees range from large public sector organisations to creative startups, large national companies to established home-grown businesses.

Event host and sponsor Bhupinder Sidhu, MD of Precision Financial, a Swansea based financial services firm, explains why he got involved.

“The events that I find useful are those that provide a great way to meet with existing and new connections in an informal setting, LinkedIn local fits well with that. This isn’t about pitching products it’s about making meaningful connections that can be of long term benefit. I’m delighted with the take up so far and can’t wait to meet some of my longstanding LinkedIn connections for the first time.”

Remaining tickets are available from www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/linkedin-local-swansea-networking-event-tickets-45508690719