NETWORKING

Group therapy, health clubs and the Polo Lounge--once networking hot spots--are now strictly passe. These days, heavy-hitters take a power . . . facial. Step into Nance Mitchell’s private, by-appointment-only skin-care parlor in Beverly Hills, oh nonbelievers, and catch some serious business-card swapping.

Some clients, such as filmmakers Matia Karrell and Tim Healy, schedule side-by-side facials, instead of power lunches, to talk shop. Others come to gather references--A-list lawyers, trainers, psychics. When actress Cristina Raines Crowe showed up all in a tizzy over what to wear to a Lily Tartikoff cancer benefit, Mitchell rang up boutique owner Lina Lee (another client) over on Rodeo. “By the time I got to the store, everything was pulled and I was on my way,” Crowe says. “Nance has the best Rolodex in town.”

Manager Gary Quinn signed his company’s most profitable actor, Michael J. Pollard, after talking with a film editor in Mitchell’s waiting room. Caterer Nick Grippo met Carrie Fisher while both were having their faces buffed, and she hired him to serve up her birthday bash. One of her friends, Harrison Ford, then snagged Grippo for a couple of his dinner soirees, which led to the wrap party for a major motion picture.

Nance, a high-voltage blonde who hobnobs for exercise, has a knack for getting the skinny while doing the skin--and she loves nothing better than a good match. During her 15 years in the business, she’s hooked up socialites to charities, brides with florists, artists with collectors. She’s played Cupid on numerous occasions and even found one client a private detective to trail an errant husband.

Has she made any great connections herself? “I don’t do this to get anything in return,” says Nance of the impeccable complexion. “But if you’ve got someone who would like to invest in a couple of projects I have up my sleeve, let me know.”