It’s a great networking event when….

Business Networking | March 16th, 2007

I had the chance to attend the Capital Cabal Networking Mixer last night. CapCabal is primarily for professionals who work in new media. Think marketing, PR, internet, web technology and the like.

This was my first time for this event, but I was impressed with the crowd. I grew tired of the typical Chamber of Commerce scene where it’s too general of a crowd. CoCs are a little bit of everything from the self employed, the small business with no budget, the sales account executives, and corporate managers who think they know everything and are too good to talk to you. That’s no longer for me. As a web designer and online marketing consultant, I know I collaborate best with professionals who work in marketing communications, internet, and media professionals. Goodbye CoCs and hello networking events with a focused demographic!

I am summarizing what made the Cap Cabal mixer a solid event for me. For the small business owners reading this, consider these factors as a way to benchmark your networking success at a business event. As an entrepreneur, you wear so many hats. One of the most important hats to wear is that of a marketer. I see alot of business owners waste precious time on business events that are no good to them. Just because others flock to these events, doesn’t mean you should as well.

Looking back at the night, I know CapCabal was a great networking event because;

1. I have at least three attendees take the initiative to follow up with me within a 24 hour time period. It’s usually me that has to send a courtesy email or follow up. I have a hard time recalling when was the last time three people send an email to me immediately. The funny thing is that I only managed to talk to less than 10 people. I’m used to talking to 15-20 people and I’m lucky if anyone wants to give me the time of day afterwards much less do a follow up.
2. I actually enjoy the majority of the conversations. As I told Margaret Schwartz, it’s a lot easier to relate when we speak the same language. In this case, the language of marketing and new media. As I always tell people, I don’t expect to do business at a networking event. I’m just there to try and have as many interesting conversations as possible. Business is only done with some follow up or months down the road when the timing is appropriate.
3. The demographics are varied but still focused. New media is a very broad term that encompasses quite alot of industries and professions. We had a good mix of account executives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners. Even the small business owners such as Julia Wilkinson, aspiring writer and ebook publisher, were pretty savvy.
4. The attendees aren’t clueless and show networking courtesy. I don’t mind people talking about themselves and their business but just as long as there is some level of reciprocation. Most of the attendees were highly educated and showed courtesy. Plenty of bright intelligent people to talk to. Thanks Sarah
5. I win a door prize. As I told Jose Laguna, I was feeling the vibe last night. As the master of ceremonies, Hank Dearden, was making his announcements, I told Jose that I had a feeling I was going to win a prize. And sure enough, I did. I won a gift certificate to Gua Rapo Restaurant. Yummy.
6. The organization doesn’t overcharge you for admission. Admission was rather cheap- $15. This included a drink ticket and some hors d’oeuvre. That’s all I need. I get tired of networking organizations that go through all sorts of trouble for an extravagant feast and charge $50 for it. I can afford $50. That’s not the problem. The problem is why bother when half the people aren’t going to have a full dinner at the event. If you want fine dining, go out afterwards. It’s called networking, not netseating or neteating. It’s virtually impossible to have a dinner and meet people at the same time. I hear networking groups say that they want to provide an experience. Experience? If you want people to remember your group, just create an environment that is networking conducive. Not that hard, folks. Thanks for understanding that, Hank.

If I didn’t have to bolt out early, I would’ve stayed alot longer. Otherwise, two networking thumbs up.

If you host or attend networking events, the above are general guidelines to use in order to benchmark the success of your events. Networking can be one of the most time consuming aspects of a viable business development strategy. If you find that networking is “not working” for you, then you may need to reasses the type of events that you are in search of. Networking does work but you need to constantly test, benchmark, and quantify your results.