Networking is the Primary Reason to Attend Events – Here’s How to Foster It Effectively!
Events have the power to influence brands on multiple levels. When done correctly, they can lead to improved brand recognition, increased customer loyalty, and higher sales, all while giving your brand a competitive advantage. In this e-book you'll learn: - The key benefits of using events to enhance your brand. - Proven strategies for building stronger brands through events. - How to effectively leverage event technology to boost your branding efforts.
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5 NOVEMBER, 2024
Networking is the Primary Reason to Attend Events – Here’s How to Foster It Effectively!
Networking is one of the strongest motivations for people to attend events today. Whether it’s about expanding their professional network, finding potential collaborators, or deepening industry knowledge, many participants seek new contacts and meaningful exchanges. A report from Spotme shows that 88% of event experts value networking as the top reason to participate, and this trend only seems to be increasing.
As an organizer, it is crucial to understand how to best facilitate networking at your events. In this article, we have compiled our top tips on how to promote networking at your events!
Create Opporunities for Networking – Both On-Site and Digitally
To ensure that networking is smooth and valuable, it’s important to prioritize it in your event program. To include breaks and other networking opportunities during the event is essential to encourage networking among participants. For instance, you could set up a mingle area or invite to shared activities such as speed networking sessions or an after-work gathering.
For digital participants it is of course a little bit different. They don't have the possibility to meet other participants in a typical networking setting.However, as an organizer, you can create an interactive space for digital participants to engage with one another using minimal resources. You might arrange digital breakout rooms during breaks, virtual mingling rooms, or allocate sessions in the agenda where participants can discuss a specific topic.
The hybrid conference The Sales Conference offers digital networking sessions.
Break the Ice with Name Badges
A classic icebreaker is name badges, which many events provide for their participants. These badges help attendees gain a clearer picture of who they are interacting with, allowing them to identify common ground through titles or organizations. Being able to recognize each other’s names and roles directly often reduces anxiety during initial conversations, making it easier to take the first step towards starting a dialogue. In many contexts, participants are more willing to approach one another and initiate conversations when they can associate faces with names and companies.
Additionally, name badges create the impression of more professional networking and events experience for attendees, contributing to an exclusive and a “wow”-feeling for everyone present.
Tip: Include the participant's title and the organization they represent (most relevant for B2B events) on the name badge.
Make it Easy to Find Networking Enthusiasts
Despite the majority of attendees wanting to network, there are still some who wish to avoid it – and that is perfectly okay. Ensure that you satisfy both groups by making those who want to network visible to others at the event. Including a participant list in the attendees’ event app can undoubtedly highlight the network-friendly attendees.
Here, they can find other participants by searching for names, companies, and more. Participants only appear on the digital attendee list once they choose to consent, which also respects those who do not wish to network.
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