Networking is a go-to activity for professionals, entrepreneurs, and everyone who strives to create meaningful, professional relationships and boost their career prospects. Generating new connections in your respective field means getting to meet like-minded industry professionals and expanding your network.
Conferences are great networking tools. But to get the most out of the event, it’s important to be prepared in advance. This article shares the must-know tips for networking for your next big event.
What Is Networking?
Networking typically involves meeting people from your industry or people who share the same interests or professions. The basics of networking are focused on exchanging information and ideas.
Most people see networking as a way to trade business-related information. But it’s much more than that. Networking is like an avenue for creating long-term relationships with benefits for both parties.
Networking can take place in many informal settings. It can happen in an office, at events, through industry associations, etc. It can also be done formally via e-mail, webinars, fairs, LinkedIn, and so on.
Below is a list of the top places (both online and offline) where you can network to increase your chances of getting noticed:
- Professional or civic associations and organizations
- Job fairs
- Public speaking events
- Networking events
- Alumni events
- Professional or educational development classes
- Professional conferences
- Charities
- Cultural events
- Social media
One of the main reasons why networking is important in the modern day and age is referrals. Almost a third of job seekers find listings through referrals. Attending a conference and its networking events opens doors to numerous opportunities that could otherwise be inaccessible.
There are many other benefits of conference networking:
- Great for Social Well-Being: Helps develop lifelong friends, not just business associates.
- Finding New Opportunities: Networking is also about finding new job opportunities. While at a networking event, use your time wisely, ask people about their businesses, and see how you could help.
- Enhancing Soft Skills: When you participate in conferences, you develop time management, communication, and presentation skills.
- Finding Mentors: There could easily be a person willing to be your mentor inyour career growth at the next conference.
- Improving Previous Connections: A conference is a great place to boost your existing professional connections.
- Learning the Industry News: You have access to industry-related forecasts, insights, and changes that can help fine-tune your work.
- Using Resources: Most conferences provide additional resources for workshops, forums, and other events you can benefit from or use to develop a more specific business practice.
- Making You Noticeable: If you seek publicity for the sake of business, fame, or politics, you can use networking so other people notice you.
How to Network on Conferences?
It’s not enough to be present at a conference for good things to happen. You have to be prepared for the event beforehand. Here are some tips to help you get started.
1. Have Clear Goals
You should have clear goals for why you’re attending a conference. Are you looking for a business partner? Do you want to expand your customer base? Identify the goal of your visit to the event before proceeding any further. This will make it easier to decide which conference sessions you want to attend and whom you hope to meet.
2. Stay in the Same Hotel as the Conference
There are many perks of staying in the same hotel as the conference. This is where, most likely, other conference participants will be accommodated. This gives you much more opportunities to spend time with like-minded people, even after hours.
3. Be Prepared, Send E-mails Before the Event
Are there any specific conference attendees you’d like to talk to? You can research on time and become more familiar with their work. You can even send them an e-mail or reach out on Twitter or LinkedIn to engage in conversations before the conference.
4. Be Ready With Conversation Starters
Always have some conversation starter questions in mind in case you get stuck. For example:
- Where do you come from?
- What got you interested in this conference?
- How long have you been working with the XYZ company?
- Which speaker/session is your favorite so far?
- Do you have any tips for improving XYZ skills?
- Which speakers/sessions are you going to attend next?
5. Create a Schedule
Keep a schedule of which speakers are giving talks and when, depending on your interests. You won’t be able to attend all sessions at once, so it’s wise to have a priority list and stick to it.
6. Use Social Media
Is there a session you attended that particularly struck you? You can comment on social media and use the conference #hashtag so other people who attended can see it. Who knows, maybe a new valuable connection will love your positive comment.
7. Get the Conference App
Social discovery apps are great for meeting people beyond the confines of your show floor. You can check if people from your network are nearby and say hi to them via a simple interface. These apps are usually easy to use, but not every conference may support them. In case there isn’t a suitable app for the event, you can use the Tweetdeck client to track the #hashtag of the conference.
8. Bring Business Cards
Bring business cards to the conference. Handing them out is a fast way to share your contact information and introduce yourself. You may only have a short time to meet someone, but exchanging business cards leaves the door open.
9. Meet People Outside the Conference
If you’re staying in the conference hotel, you can meet other participants in the “outside” environment, like the gym, nearby Starbucks, or the pool. Chances are, there will be other fellow attendees at these places.
10. Don’t Forget the Follow Up
Follow up with the people you met at the conference and found interesting. Send them an e-mail, message them on LinkedIn, or suggest a new meetup for coffee, lunch, or whatever you find suitable. Connecting with people after the event boosts your chances of meeting lifelong friends and business partners.
Virtual Conference Networking
If you’re organizing or attending the event online, you can still follow many of the tips provided above.
Additionally, you want to get extra use of social media and marketing. As an organizer, you want to spread the word about the event, and as a participant, check out the hashtags and related posts to get to know more about the attendees.
However, it’d be wrong to expect the same level of action and participation as offline conferences. You can’t meet with the participants after the session for a drink in a bar or meet them in the gym. Fortunately, virtual conferences now have breakout rooms where groups can meet to discuss particular topics outside the main presentation.
How to Organize Conference Networking Sessions
Conferences are an excellent place for networking. However, networking can also be challenging. Here are a few tips to boost the process as a conference organizer.
Include Name Badges for Participants
Make sure everyone remembers each other’s names without asking multiple times. You don’t even have to spend a fortune on name tags. All you need is paper, tape, and clips.
Set Up Networking Sessions
You can use interactive sessions during the event to ease the awkwardness of attendees who wish to approach their fellow attendees out of the blue.
An example of a networking session is when a small group has a prompt they can use to facilitate group discussion. The prompt can be anything relevant to the conference that can inspire conversation.
Offer Opportunities Through the Conference App
You can use a mobile app for networking at the conference. This gives an additional channel for participants to communicate with each other. You can use apps with different networking and communication options, like 1:1 sessions, live chats, and more.
Creative Networking Ideas
Here are some good ideas for networking events you can implement during a conference.
- Pre-Conference Training Course: You can host a training course before the conference where people can connect before the big event starts.
- Icebreaker Game: Icebreaker games like a desert island or scavenger hunt are great activities where attendees can get to know each other.
- Live Entertainment: You can invite a band, throw a dance or theatrical performance, or invite a famous speaker to boost engagement and provide an enjoyable experience for the attendees.
- Food Station: People are crazy about food. Having a food station at the conference stimulates networking while they take a break from the sessions. Who doesn’t want to bond over delicious donut walls or cupcake stations?
- Round Table: Round tables let people share ideas, meet new people, and interact with each other freely.
Promote a Networking Event
Finally, here are tips on how you can promote your networking event:
- Create a buzz in the online community.
- Create a networking strategy.
- Use digital badges.
- Use social media hashtags and start engagement campaigns.
- Start creative networking opportunities before the conference.
How Can AKCongress Help You to Organize Networking Sessions?
Networking is crucial when it comes to making a conference a success. People should be able to connect and exchange ideas in a structured, organized, and quality way.
AKCongress is a full-service event management branch that can help organize conferences and networking events online. We help set up a fast registration process and interactive interfaces with discussions, video chats, games, quizzes, questionnaires, and many more features to make networking more straightforward and accessible.