Event Production
How to Design a Networking-Friendly Conference
By Ed Bernacki
September 2, 2010
Remind Attendees of The Networking Basics
Here are tips that can be used at the beginning of the conference to remind participants about the basics of networking. Have the emcee or host present these in a fun way:
1. Don't spend all your time with people you already know (say this twice!!!).
2. Scan the list of attendees and decide who you want to meet and why. If you don't know who you want to meet, think about it from a general perspective— perhaps it's someone with a certain type of experience or from a specific company.
3. Don't leave it to chance; make the connection.
4. Introduce yourself every time you sit down. Keep business cards handy and give them out generously.
5. Be a good contact and do what you promise. If you say you will send some information, do it immediately.
6. Make a note as a follow-up plan and include a brief description of:
• Who they are.
• How you met.
• Your follow-up plan or actions.Everyone has a story to tell about someone they met at a conference who contributed to their success. What strikes me as odd is that few events actually have structured networking. Surely the chance of meeting someone who can contribute to your success should not be left to chance, such as who happens to be in the washroom!
Virtually all conference organizers say their events are great for networking. Yet when I look at their conference designs, I often see that networking time is the gaps between workshops. Many conferences provide ad hoc opportunities for people to meet. However, is it good enough for people to meet by chance? You can facilitate the formation of new alliances by starting with some objectives. Why do you want people to meet? What do you want them to do when they meet? For example:
• Do you want people who have common problems or challenges to meet?
• Do you want people to find common interests for potential collaborations or alliances?
• Do you want people who can mentor or act as a sounding board in the future to meet those in need?
Conferences and meetings create ideal opportunities for people to share ideas, insights, and stories across an organization or an entire industry. People who network learn from each other as well as from the speakers at conferences. Therefore, your events must include time to allow people to talk and share their experiences and expertise.
Start by defining the degree of networking you want to design into your event: What do you want people to do?
• People to randomly meet and talk.
• People who have a common interest to meet and share ideas.
• People who want to start a conversation about collaborating on some future project to get together.
Networking is like brainstorming, in which you connect various ideas that lead to new and more powerful ideas. Networking is connecting people together to see what happens! Brainstorming is a structured process to harness creativity. It's not random.
The goal for conference networking is to get people to talk in meaningful ways about issues that can contribute to business and personal success. If you prefer, networking is also like a dating service. While it is nice to meet lots of people, you really want to find the one person who can contribute to your success. When planning an event, be creative and borrow ideas from the many dating services that get people to meet.
Ed Bernacki created the Idea Factory to help people and organizations create more innovative solutions to their challenges. He also wrote Seven Rules for Designing More Innovative Conferences
. To contact him, visit www.innovativeconferences.com.