Experience Issues #13: why is Happy Hour not enough for a curated networking experience?
Hello there,
It’s been 5 days since I rode the waves of the Atlantic Ocean and was covered in a mix of sand, salt, and SPF 50 all day long, but in my head, I am still there. That’s what surfing does to you. Seriously, if you are still considering whether it’s for you or not - just give it a try. I fell in love.
I also fell in love with the whole spirit and the atmosphere of the surf camp we chose for our stay. Beautiful sunsets, amazing food, fresh air and seagulls’ cries at 5:50 am in the morning - what’s not to love here?!
Yet, my event mind couldn’t leave me alone.
While the camp life had its perfect schedule with educational and entertainment elements, and the whole thing claimed to be a community, the organizers failed to do one thing - curate the way the connections happen.
You know where this part of the experience is overlooked too?
At the majority of B2B events.
People come to events craving new connections, yet most of the time they are left to their own devices and communication abilities when it comes to networking. At the very best they are given an app, and booze to facilitate the process.
Neither is exactly helpful, to be honest.
Key takeaway: being intentional about the networking and curating this part of the event experience is as important as content programming.
What is wrong with an app and booze?
That moment when the final session of the day is finally over…which means the open bar starts! So old-school. So “trade shows from the 90s”, yet happy hours and conference parties have cemented their spots on every agenda to this day.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that parties can be an awesome thing, as long as there is more than just an open bar to them. If the organizer thinks through the attendee journey and adds activities, tasks, and touchpoints that spark conversations and introductions to the right people, it may successfully run even on Coke Zero.
That’s where some may say “But we’ve got a matchmaking app to facilitate connections!” It does in theory. In practice, only half of the attendees actually use it. And some attendees use it as another cold outreach channel ruining the event organizers’ dream of a seamless networking experience.
Again, I believe event apps have their use case and can be a great addition to the experience, but they can’t be the sole provider of “meaningful connection opportunities”.
We don’t want our attendees to spend time on their phones. We want them to talk, meet and embrace the serendipity of hallway conversations.
With a little help from creative networking planning, you can achieve just that.
Key guardrails for successful networking planning
We’ve all been there. Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room full of people with a drink in hand, pretending to be busy on your phone, while getting the nerves to “get out there and meet people”.
Even people who consider themselves extroverts (yours truly) have moments of inner awkwardness and are dreading making that first move. Just like at high school.
Your job as the organizer is to eliminate the barrier of the first conversation. And ensure that the first exchange is not the last one either.
I’ve been experimenting with various formats over the years, and here are the core principles that guide my planning process:
Keep the event at a reasonable scale for proper connections.
As a rule, new friendships and partnerships don’t occur after 167-second-long chit-chats. 3-7 touch points over the course of the whole event increase the chances tremendously.
Yet, how to make it happen with thousands of people at the venue? Either micro-events within a large event, or, my personal favorite - a boutique-style conference that is so much better for real networking.
Find common denominators to foster connections.
Best case scenario - your small-scale event already attracts an audience who share exact same interests, then the work is almost done.
Why almost?
Cause you can always do better. Go one step deeper into defining who people want to talk to based on the core themes / specializations / etc, and find ways to connect them. More on these in the next section.
Split up the groups.
Just as at high-society dinner parties all couples were assigned seats next to someone other than their partner, your networking activities should split the groups that arrived together.
Otherwise, they risk spending the whole night talking to each other, and never really engaging with any “outsiders”.
Keep it easy and simple.
When opting in for an activity, don’t turn it into a full-blown quest or hero race. Make it easy to participate, by keeping the rules simple. Make it enticing to stay engaged, by adding a hint of competitive spirit and making it short. 5 to 10 min is a solid estimate.
Plus eliminate the barrier of “joining the activity” by making it a part of the check-in process - without even knowing it, everyone is already in.
Leave space for serendipity and free-flowing conversations
Whenever designing your breaks, parties, and other slots dedicated to networking, make sure to follow the “sandwich rule”. Any activity needs to be compensated by the “free-flowing” time. This way people who connected over the game can keep their conversation going, and the ones who preferred to observe, can get back to their agenda.
Bonus tips:
There will always be people who just want to get their G&T and not be bothered with anything else, and it’s ok. Don’t worry about 10-20% of the attendees who don’t engage.
People bond over different things, and if it is because they decided to not participate in whatever you are running - let it be. Maybe this is the best connection they will make at this event!
Don’t try to do it all. One carefully crafted activity is usually enough to make the event memorable and spark some laughs and conversations.
The best examples are the ones that actually took place
The theory is good, but practice makes perfect, right? So I’ve gathered a few examples of networking activities I’ve successfully done in the past.
Some of them are more about gamification, and some are more about curated connections. Some were used in combination with others, and some were more than enough on their own. And it’s up to you to take these ideas and turn into something uniquely yours or use them as is!
Unite attendees in teams based on their choice of topics or sessions
Based on the workshop the participant selected to attend, they were handed out a color-coded silicon bracelet. During the welcome party, they were tasked to find their group. The speaker that would run the workshop was a “group leader” and had a fun ice breaker as soon as people got into groups.
Unite in random teams and have tasks to complete throughout the event
At the check-in, people are either given a color-coded bracelet, or their badge is of a specific color. Keep the mystery by not revealing why they have different colors, and when the moment comes ask people to get into the teams and either complete a task or participate in a quiz.
Works well for an evening meetup or multi-day event. Make sure that there is someone from your company on each team to facilitate, and definitely get speakers to be a part of it. It gives people such an authentic way to connect with someone they see on stage!
Hand out something to find your match
Similar to the above, but can be used for more simple 1:1 conversations during the event. At the check-in or entrance to the party hand out something that people can use to find their match.
For example, I get a spider-man figure at the entrance and have to find another person with a spider man. While on a mission, I will talk briefly to 3-5 other people who are not my matches and will have a pool of faces I recognize to continue conversations later. Depending on the number of people there can be only one unique match, or a 5-10 to make it easier.
Mix up the badges
Give out the wrong badge at the entrance or, even better, make people pull out one from the pile. Then they have to find the real owner of the badge. It’s a fun activity for a smaller group of people that arrives at the same time but is not too familiar with each other. Make sure though that only badges of people who are actually present get into the game.
Pin on the map
Great for a highly international event with 100-200 people, and looks even better when the pins are actual small flags of the countries. Attendees get really excited about marking their city on the large-scale map, and it serves as a perfect conversation starter. Can be also done digitally, for example, with Engamio’s Interactive Map.
Sticker wall to share what you want to learn/can teach
Similar principle as an unconference, where people share on stickers what they would like to run a session about and get upvoted. Here people can leave the stickers with what they want to learn or what they are ready to share plus their names.
You can make it look cooler by preparing name cards with QR codes to people’s LinkedIn profiles to facilitate connections or run a digital Miro board as a “green” or virtual event solution.
Make proper introductions
No games, business only. But with a very personal approach. The goal is to ensure no one is standing alone in the middle of the room pretending to be busy on the phone. Your team members are to approach such people, have a chit-chat, learn what this person is interested in and quickly think of who to connect them with right on the spot. A very effective tactic, but definitely requires more work from your own team at the event.
***
Lengthy read today, but I hope it gave you a few ideas on how to make your next event- a surf camp, a dinner party, or a flagship user conference - a tiny bit more engaging and genuinely focused on fostering new connections.
If your company has never done activities like this before and relied on natural ways people meet, it may feel uncomfortable at first. There will be someone skeptical in that team meeting.
But still, give it a try.
Choose the simplest, easiest activity and see how engaged your attendees become.
And if they don’t - please do let me know, and we will come up with something for sure!
Have a great week ahead, and I will see you on Sep 4!
Best,
Aleksandra