I’ve never been involved in a business networking group, and have no idea what the benefits might be. The cynical side of me would think people would contact me to sell me stuff I don’t want. I try not to give in to my cynical side.

This is a great question so I wanted to share my answer, others might have different advice:

There are many different types of networking and different reasons that people join so it is hard to be say the exact benefits. In this case I think the benefit will be a community of smart, well-read professionals who clearly want to keep becoming better people and having more success. Sounds like the kind of people I would want surrounding me.

As for your cynical side, I will again refer you to my article. The golden rule of networking really is true. That does not mean there are people who ignore it and go straight at you with their pitch. Those people exist. But as a network administrator, think of it as “connections made”. It might be a warm introduction or a referral. Since this will be virtual we will need to focus on some other aspects as well to make our community flourish.