THIS IS A CONVERSATION we need to have with ourselves each time we are preparing to network; business cards, do I have enough to give out during the course of the event. Most of us are very hardworking and tend to give out our last card and neglect to order new ones, or information is outdated and we think 'economics' and want to use all the cards with the wrong information before ordering new ones.

I tend to be the one who has a more than the necessary amount of cards and consistently reminds my business associates about the importance of having, using and sharing their business cards.

What do we do in a pinch, knowing that the people we meet represent potential access to professional opportunities, and neither one of us has a business card? To remember the name and telephone number you can log it into your cell phone—don't forget to put in the entire name, first and last…weeks later you could be searching through your list of contacts and wondering, "Who is this person?" Then there are the times when we get business cards with all of the printed details and we still cannot recall who this person is. Now that is terrible, but true, I am sure it has happened to all of us at some point in time.

I recently attended an event where I knew very few of the people, I was asked to introduce myself…after stating that I hosted a show on television and I am always looking for guests…I received lots of cards during and as I was leaving the event. I tried hard to put a small note on the back of the cards about the person or the organization they represented.

Reality really hit me hard that night; I realized that nothing beats the power of the business card, not our PDAs, computers or cell phones. Number one, nobody tries to steal them and we do not have to worry about accidentally erasing information or loosing battery power. Business cards are still economically feasible and inexpensive to print and they continue to be great icebreakers at networking and business mixers if you want or need to give your number to someone. Business cards also work miracles in social environments as conversation starters.

Don't get me wrong I am in favor of technology, even if that Blackberry or Cellular Telephone you purchased a year ago is currently outdated and the newer version is quite expensive. In my opinion for all of the digital and technological devices that are being manufactured and sold, there is still something to be said for that 3.5 x 2 piece of paper printed on a layer of card stock, the proverbial Business Card.