Why not? Rainmakers never stop networking. Yeah, I know, its family time, and they should be your priority. No question about it.

However, vacation time doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t take advantage of networking opportunities that present themselves – on an airplane, at the beach, or yes, standing in line at a restaurant.

And, if such opportunities occur, it would be silly not to take advantage .  Merrilyn Astin Tarlton has 40 networking tips she posted on Attorney at Work this month I commend to your summer reading list.

A few of her tips I particularly like include:

• Develop an effective elevator (or standing-in-line) speech or two, depending on your different target audiences (P.S. don’t start with “I’m a lawyer”;
• Listen twice as much as you talk (remember the old saying that that is why we have two ears and only one mouth);
• Ask smart, open-ended questions so you can learn more about the other person. Don’t waste time talking about yourself (you already know everything there is to know there);
• Be selective about what networking events you attend (i.e., go where your preferred clients and prospects hang out); and
• Smile and show genuine interest.

There’s more good stuff in Tarlton’s post, so do take a look. Networking needs to become a habit anywhere you are.