5 Ways to Stimulate Networking at Your Event

Every event planner’s nightmare is seeing the attendees at the event standing around and not talking to each other. Another version of this nightmare goes something along these lines – the attendees arrive but remain in small groups during the whole event. You know, events serve as social opportunities for your business and your partners. So, having people who are unwilling to network, well, that’s not what you want? What can you do to encourage everyone to mingle? Take a look below if you don’t know the answer to this question.

Looks are important

Obviously, it’s not about the looks of attendees. It’s about the event space. Event design is an important factor when it comes to interaction. So, when you invest in creative spaces, you may be encouraging networking. And, it is quite logical. If the space isn’t appealing, people won’t feel as nice as they would in a nice, clean and visually appealing venue. Set up nice networking zones, those spaces are designed for chatting between the various parts of the event. Set up a break corner where people can just chill. That way they will end up together in the same place and they will most likely start talking to each other.

Build an online community

You don’t have to hold specialized events for networking if your goal is to have people network. Your event isn’t the only time and place when networking happens. Build an online community and go past the duration of event. Attendees have a chance to cultivate connections before and after an event when they join an online community. Through these communities, people can interact with each other, chat and even look at the lists of attendees for upcoming events. That’s how many determine whether they will or will not attend. It’s all about the valuable connections. With an online community, you will be making it easy for people to find whomever they are looking to meet.

Name badges

Introduce more sophisticated name badges at your events. For example, many events require name badges. These badges have attendee’s name and surname along with the name of company. However, why don’t you add a more engaging feature to the usual name badge? For example, you could use colors. Color code badges by the roles attendees have at the event. Not all attendees have the same roles, right? Why not distinguish speakers from the others by coloring their badges differently? You could also color the badges according to various job industries or by session tracks. Then have a surprise breakout session by badge color. For example, a certain color should gather in a secret part of the venue or something like that. Be creative and you’ll get what you want out of the event.

Online schedule

If you have the assets, provide your attendees with an interactive schedule they can access on their phones. This is a simple way to encourage attendees to network. With the schedule on the palm of their hands, they can easily see and pick out what they want to attend and what they would like to maybe avoid and rest during that segment. This way you are helping them build their own schedules on the go which allows them to prioritize their itinerary and optimize their time to network and enjoy the event the way they like to.

Hype it with music

Build hype with music. Noise is an important factor at every event. Therefore, sound design at your event needs to be top-notch. You have to be careful with it since too much of it can discourage people from talking. You know how annoying it can get when you attend a party where music is blasting way too loud. You can’t get a word in edgeways due to the loud noise. So, make sure that the volume levels are fine and determine the type of music you’ll need at your event. Do you need the music to pump up the group or to relax it? Sound plays an important role and can determine whether people will hang out and talk to each other.

Conclusion

Getting people to talk to each other can be a real pain in the neck sometimes. Other times, there are folks that simply just show up and light up the gathering. However, as a marketer, you have to make sure that networking happens. Always! You benefit from it. So, make sure that it’s encouraged at the event.