It’s 7am and I’m waiting for everyone to get here so I can have a bowl of Apple Jacks. Last night, I spent two hours with four other Linchpins.
The former event, labeled Cereal Bar, is Gangplank’s take on the typical morning networking event. Instead of showing up somewhere foreign, filling out a name tag, snacking on terribly-sugary pastries and listening to someone speak for an hour, they provide cereal, milk, juice and no agenda. It’s quirky and feels more productive than a mass meeting of stuffy people.
The Linchpin meetup was similar in its intimacy. We shared the floor, shared more than just our names and job roles and we all walked away with at least one challenge answered, which included Chase Granberry discovering a little more about what goes along with VC money and me finally figuring out what it is I’d like to do.
I’m not a fan of huge networking events. I’m not a fan of sitting down and listening to someone for 15 minutes or more. Networking events, to me, should be more of a workshop style with people from all industries so we can actually learn a little more about what it is we’re doing, would like to do and should be doing with our time and energy.
The larger events feel more like parties designed to see and be seen. That doesn’t cut it for me. Do you have preferred networking styles that actually help you?
2 Comments on “Non-boring networking events”
I’ve always enjoyed a more structured networking event. I like to learn a little, have a feature speaker/guest, and chat among my pals and meet a few new people. I can’t stand and won’t go to big events anymore because I don’t like random sales people pushing their business cards on me before developing a relationship or seeing a reason for us to speak again.
Good post. I agree with your take on the less structured networking events (at least for me.) For years and years I was forced to go to networking events, (like you said) wear my name tag, make sure I had business cards on hand to give out and make sure I had my 30 second commercial in a robotic queue. I hated every one of the events I attended and nothing got accomplished.
Until someone pointed out that there are different types events that provide networking opportunities. For me, the less formal the better. I can relax and be myself. I am not a robot that says who I am and what I do when pointed to. That’s just not me.
I really turned the corner in networking when I realized a lot of it is me going places and doing things with people I know and talking informally to other people they know.