You may know that I am a believer in holiday networking, taking advantage of social occasions and a seasonally hopeful and generous frame of mind to meet new people and make some possible new contacts. So it will not surprise you that I am also a proponent of making the most of those new and revived contacts.

It is somewhat astounding to me how quickly the halo of the holiday lights fade and the reality of what is frequently a cold and demanding January sets in. Many of the networking...