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Experiential networking, like the s’mores roasting and fire-pit tables at this year’s Car Wash Show, eases the awkwardness of networking by encouraging attendees to take part in a shared activity. (Photos courtesy of the Car Wash Show)
Walking up to a stranger at a cocktail reception can be awkward — and, for some people, downright scary. Experiential networking takes the pressure off by giving attendees an activity to focus on. When networking feels intentional, interactions happen organically. For example, this year’s Car Wash Show featured s’mores kits and fire-pit tables, which allowed attendees to meet while engaging in a shared activity: roasting marshmallows. And Digestive Disease Week served up a conversation-starting experience on a pickleball court.
When helping New Hope Network launch the new conscious CPG event Newtopia Now, held in August, mdg made networking a value proposition from the outset — opportunities to make connections should be part of an event’s brand identity, said mdg’s account director Sierra Hollinden. Intentional networking activations were planned in advance and communicated throughout the campaign for the event, she said, “not just tacked on as an afterthought.”
Newtopia Now’s floor plan — four “neighborhoods” that grouped products and content by theme — was marketed heavily, giving participants with similar interests built-in starting points and destinations for conversation. Show organizers branded networking as “Conscious Connections,” with the steps to participate explained in a video on the website, transforming networking from a vague concept into a tangible activity attendees could visualize.
Attendees at the Car Wash Show’s networking event gathered around fire-pit tables where they could roast marshmallows. (Photos courtesy of the Car Wash Show)
Curating Connections
Attendees today are looking for more curated experiences. Segmenting an email campaign, providing customized networking agendas, and creating audience-specific paths online are just some of the ways personalization can begin in pre-show marketing.
Networking can be made into a curated experience. Recent Freeman research shows that attendees ideally want to bond with peers over shared professional challenges at meetups that focus on a common interest, topic or role, and in environments where informal networking can occur.
AI-powered matchmaking technology can help facilitate more meaningful peer-to-peer connections or meetings between exhibitors and attendees. Event platform Grip uses more than 16 algorithms to make strategic matches and increase in-person meetings with exhibitors based on attendee preferences and behaviors. Braindate, another event connection platform, gets attendees talking before the event even starts. Attendees can post anything they’re hoping to discuss with peers before or during the event on Braindate’s “topic market,” and people with similar interests or challenges can “book” the discussion. This is a great way to build engagement and find out what’s really on attendees’ minds. .
Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes is president and chief marketing strategist at mdg, a Freeman Company, a full-service marketing and public relations firm specializing in B2B events.
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Meet and Eat
Which is easier for a nervous networker: Asking a perfect stranger out for dinner or dining out in an unfamiliar city alone?
It’s a trick question — they’re both hard. Dine-Arounds are informal gatherings that offer an attractive alternative. Attendees can sign up for these meals, scheduled at restaurants in the host destination, which can be topical in nature, with conversations led by a host or open for general discussion. Whether the approach is formal or looser in nature, Dine-Arounds take the effort — and potential stress — out of making dinner arrangements and meeting peers for event-goers.