In my (admittedly short) professional capacity I attend a fair bit of networking events, and from this experience have developed a feel for what makes a good event for me.
That being said I’ve given it some thought and jotted down some things that I think need to be considered when planning an event.
Analyze the audience:
Does you audience know each other? Do they operate in the same field? Are they competitors? Do they offer each other complimentary services? If you are able to answer these questions then it makes your life a lot easier when creating an environment which is conducive to networking. It is for this reason that when I register for events these days I am presented with a questionnaire so the organizers can cater for my ‘requirements’. It also allows them to capture the data, which in all fairness I am happy to relinquish if it means I end up having a more successful time.
Name tags:
I am a firm believer of name tags. So much so that I have been known to make my own when getting to events where they don’t have any, (in this instance it proved to be a real hit and everyone at the event came up to me and commented about it, talk about an icebreaker).
I like to think that I am gifted in remembering people’s names, but not everyone is like this. When you meet 30 new names and faces in the space of an hour it can be rather chaotic later in the night when to speak to the same person and for the life of you, you can’t remember their name, or even worse get confused and call them something else.
So name tags are essential. They are however very boring, and these days a sticky label just doesn’t cut it. I have been attending the MiniBar meetings in London recently where they give you a choice of tags with which to tag yourself. So when getting there I tag myself, ‘Start-up’, ‘User generated’, ‘non-tech’, a while a VC I have come to know tags himself, ‘Investor’, ‘Seeking’. This is a great way of differentiating the people you are interested in talking to, from the ones you aren’t.
Some ideas for name tags I’ve seen/thought of:
DIY tags- Provide guests with material to do their own name tags and be creative.
Signs- Why mess around with tiny name badges. Make signs which people hang around their necks.
T-shirts- Plain cheap shirts and a black marker pen, guests decorate themselves and when meeting others can use them for noting information.
Mystery tags- Each tag describes an individual and are handed out randomly and the audience are encouraged to find the correct owner.
Audience interaction:
I know my ideas for name tags can be a little ‘out there’, but their intention for me is to promote audience interaction. At many events there are always those people who will stick to there own crowd (it’s safe), those without a crowd (often where I find myself), and those people who seem to know everyone. For me the best events are those which shift people out of their comfort zones just enough that it doesn’t spoil their evening but encourages them to interact with others. I’ve been to events where they’ve had a ‘speed meeting’ concept (imagine speed dating without the giggly girls who’ve had too much wine).
Organizers need to bear in mind that not everyone is naturally outgoing, and as much as this seems like a no-brainer it is not often that I go to events that are geared towards interaction. You have to encourage people to meet each other, and make it easy for them to do so.
Here are my thoughts on creating a mingling atmosphere:
Ensure there is lots of space available for people to mingle, if it’s hard to move around people won’t.
I personally don’t think dinner is a great idea as it stops people speaking and makes them sit still, snacks are a better option.
No waiters! Create ‘water cooler’ areas where people are forced to congregate, (food table; bar; etc).
Get extra staff behind the bar so people don’t miss out on conversation by having to queue. This will encourage people to drink more, and enables people to offer to buy drinks for each other.
Keep the music neutral, upbeat, and carefully monitor the volume. There must be always be a constant level of noise, I like to think of it as ‘gross noise’. As the crowd starts to get louder you can decrease the music, people don’t want to shout at each other nor do they want to feel like everyone is listening to them.
What are your thoughts?
Labels: Life