On October 30, 2026, I had the pleasure of going to the 2026 High Tech Ministries Prayer Breakfast. This is an annual event hosted by High Tech Ministries which focuses on bringing professionals together. The event offered an opportunity to step away from daily responsibilities and connect with the broader business and technology community.
This year’s event took place at the Cobb Convention Center in the Atlanta area from 6:00 AM to 9:00 AM. This year, the National keynote speaker was Roderick Jefferson the founder and CEO of Roderick Jefferson and Associates while the Local keynote was Manmeet Vajre of GTM Partners.
As a marketing professional, I value opportunities to build relationships outside the usual exchanges of emails, online meetings, and social media. Events like this create space to learn about the people behind businesses, their experience, their interests, and the challenges they are working through.
A special thanks to Garry Fielding who invited me to this event where I got to meet and connect with some very interesting people.
An Early Start for Professional Networking
The breakfast’s networking schedule began at 5:59 a.m., putting professional connection at the start of the day. Getting there wasn’t bad as at 5:20 Am, there is not a lot of traffic on the road. However, once I got to the convention center, it was packed with hundreds of cars looking for a parking space.
High Tech Ministries describes the gathering as the Southeast’s largest invitation-only networking event.
For me, the appeal of attending was the opportunity to be part of Atlanta’s professional community in person. Working in digital marketing means spending considerable time behind a screen, analyzing performance, developing strategies, and coordinating projects. Getting into a room with other professionals offers a different perspective.
It is an opportunity to look beyond your own industry and consider how people in other roles approach growth, leadership, and business development.
Leadership and Resilience Beyond the Résumé
The 2026 speaker lineup featured Roderick Jefferson, an executive with experience at companies including Salesforce, Oracle Marketing Cloud, NetApp, and PayPal, and Manmeet Vajre, Customer Success Lead at GTM Partners. Their backgrounds brought together leadership, organizational change, customer success, and business growth.
Roderick Jefferson’s National Keynote Speech
Jefferson’s experience surviving a life-threatening stroke also brought a personal dimension to the subject of resilience. His story provides context for thinking about how professionals respond to setbacks and reassess their priorities.
Manmeet Vajre’s Local Keynote Speech
Vajre shared a heartfelt account of her journey from India to the United States, reflecting on her personal life, career, her Christian faith, and the experiences that shaped her personal and professional growth.
Those are relevant subjects for anyone building a business or managing a team. Strategies change, markets shift, and careers rarely follow a perfectly predictable path. Experience matters, but so does the ability to adapt, learn, and keep moving forward.
Why Networking Matters in a Digital Business Environment
My work through Blind Monkey Media and working for various companies centers on helping businesses improve their visibility and connect with potential customers. SEO, AEO, content, and digital strategy all contribute to that process.
Professional networking complements that work. It creates opportunities to understand a business through the person building or leading it. A website can explain services, and a LinkedIn profile can summarize experience, but a conversation allows room for questions, context, and shared interests.
That is part of why I make time for events like this. Understanding how other professionals describe their challenges can help me think more carefully about the problems marketing should solve.
Greater visibility has value when it reaches the right people and communicates something useful. Building relationships follows a similar principle: the quality of the connection matters more than the number of introductions.
Building Relationships Beyond the Event
I approach networking as an ongoing process. Meeting someone is a starting point; developing a professional relationship takes attention, follow-through, and a willingness to be helpful.
Sometimes that means sharing an idea or making an introduction. Other times, it means staying in touch until there is a relevant opportunity to collaborate. There does not have to be an immediate business transaction for a connection to be worthwhile.
For professionals working across marketing, technology, and business development, those relationships can broaden our understanding of the market and introduce perspectives we would otherwise miss.
Conversations About AI and the Future of Marketing
Throughout the event, I met some very interesting people that gave me a new perspective in not only the marketing industry but also about how AI will change most industries.
One conversation that stood out was with someone who developed an AI marketing application. Its capabilities raised some serious questions about how marketing services will evolve and where human strategy, judgment, and experience will add the most value.
I also met several other people that are at the top of their industry with interesting take on how they use AI and how it has facilitated their work and business.
Staying Connected to Atlanta’s Professional Community
Attending the 2026 High Tech Prayer Breakfast was an opportunity to make time for professional connection and consider leadership beyond my day-to-day work.
Although High Tech Ministries hosted the event, my focus in attending was on networking, business relationships, and the opportunity to engage with Atlanta’s professional community.
As I continue developing Blind Monkey Media, I want to remain connected to the people and businesses around me. Events like this are one way to do that. To show up, stay curious, and create opportunities for relationships to grow.