Make networking at events an interesting experience
Most successful business connections are still made face-to-face, so hosting a corporate event is definitely not complete without some scheduled time for networking. In order to make this equally as exciting as the main event, follow these five tips for networking moments.
Speed networking
Mixing the elevator pitch with speed dating; this is what speed networking is all about. Every attendee gets the possibility to have a quick conversation with another participant and make an impression, and then moves on to the next person. This is a great way to let people get to know each other and choose with whom they would like to continue networking during the rest of your event.
Event app
Approaching someone unfamiliar, is much less uncomfortable if you know some background information about them. This is possible via an event app, which summarizes a list of all presenters and participants of the event, including a bit of background information. Some event apps even offer the possibility to schedule a meeting with other attendees, which makes networking even easier!
Hands-on networking
Create an activity that makes people work together. Organize a short teambuilding workshop that makes people work as a small group. This forces your participants to communicate and makes networking much easier for them. A simple way to do this, is having the participants implement the knowledge that they just gained in a presentation, into a group exercise.
Games and competitions
To make your guests less hesitant of approaching someone, incorporate a competition; for example, you could host a quiz in which the guests have to answer questions about the other participants, and the person who has networked with the most people will know the most answers and wins an award or prize. Let your guests know about the quiz at the start of your event, so they will do their best to get to know as many people as possible, in order to win the quiz.
The easier and more fun you make it for your attendees, the more likely they will network, and leave your event with a positive experience as well as some new connections!
