Actual article date: Aug 26, 2013

Networking is an essential need for attendees at events, you can’t disagree with that when 47% of event planners want to cater for networking events.

The most valuable mode of networking is not clustering around a certain booth or person waiting for your opportunity to ask a question (that is actually a bane for networking). Instead, 1 to 1 meetings have proven to be invaluable in many conferences in facilitating focused and meaningful networking.

In that same line of thought, one of the most popular way by event planners to drive these 1 to 1 meetings is Speed Networking.

So what exactly is Speed Networking?

Speed Networking =/= Blind Networking!

Speed networking facilitates speed meetings between pre-matched and relevant participants that is limited to a stipulated time of 5 to 15 minutes. Furthermore these meetings happen at certain fixed destinations that are catered for 1 to 1 meetings.

Instead of a mad frenzy of giving out namecards, you go into a mad frenzy of fast paced and relevant meetings.

Speed networking can happen at conferences during specified networking hours. At tradeshows/exhibitionss, you do not only drive mindless traffic to your booth, but actually enable far more relevant 1 to 1 meetings at booths.

However, organising and facilitating such meetings at an event can be time consuming and high labor cost can be incurred if the attendees matching is done manually.

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How does an event planner organise a speed networking session with ease?

For a conference, organising a speed networking session has the following steps:

1) Match attendees up pre-event either manually or using a catered solution like Jublia Match to reduce your labor cost in business matching and allow your attendees to indicate who they really want to meet.

2) Schedule them accordingly to the timeslots during the networking session. Make sure no one is assigned to two tables at a single timeslot! (Jublia Match does automatic scheduling for each attendee for event planners)

3) Plan out a effective layout of tables for efficient transitions between meetings. Remember to number your tables visibly so that your attendees know where to go.

4) Reconnect attendees who have met at the speed networking session in the post event phase and learn if the meetings were effective. (Again, Jublia Match automates this process!)

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For an exhibition, speed meetings normally take place at exhibitors booths where they already have tables for 1 to 1 meetings. Normally the speed meetings can happen throughout the day and not within specified timings like a conference. Organising a speed networking session can be different from a conference:

1) Send list exhibitors to attendees (or list of sellers to buyers).

2) Match them up with the appropriate time to meet through the expo days.

3) Pass the schedule and relevant contacts to exhibitors so that they can keep in touch with interested attendees for 1 to 1 meetings.

4) Check back with exhibitors to see how did it work out for them.

Jublia Match helps with all the above implementation and facilitate a smooth and easy way to implement speed networking in your event.

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Lastly, why Speed Network?

For organisers, the aim is simple: 1)To increase event satisfaction and recurring exhibitors for the next event, 2)Truly understand how people are networking at your event to better cater to their needs.
For attendees and exhibitors, it is really to improve their ROI on the time and cost at attending the event.

So, why not try speed networking at your event today if you haven’t?