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There are two main types of these networks, with hybrids in between, says Andrew Kraft, 30, who is writing a book on the subject to be published this summer. His consulting firm, Executivity in Hillsborough, N.J., oversees all Ryze.com events. And about $70,000 in business has come his way through contacts he's made at these events. The first type, he says, is community-based such as Ryze. Although there are no help-wanted areas such as those on job boards, people do post profiles, create online communities and can meet face to face. Before an event, members can check a listing of others who've registered to attend and even make plans to meet at the gathering. They ask if they can be linked online as 'friends,' bringing with them their own lists of friends. Such sites have no gatekeepers, and members can connect directly though a private e-mail system. The other type is referral-based, such as LinkedIn, in which you can choose to turn over selected contacts or your entire e-mail address book. The site uses that information to determine what connections you already have with members, and does not post it for public viewing. On LinkedIn there are no photos, no face-to-face events, just a search component to help you identify various potential contacts such as chief executives, hiring managers and industry experts, and to tell you how many degrees away you are and which of your own contacts can start you on the path to reaching them. To do that, you submit a request to your contact, who can link you with his or her contact, the next step in the chain. (You don't see names of those beyond your own buddy.) Each person along the line must agree to pass your request on, and this, says Konstantin Guericke, marketing vice president for LinkedIn, discourages frivolous queries. People don't want to 'use up their relationship capital,' and that 'acts as a quality filter. People think twice about making a request,' he says.