USING DIGITAL BUSINESS CARDS AND NETWORKING IN LARGE EVENTS LIKE EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES
Attending sector events, networking, being present, and “bringing home” contacts and, in the most fortunate cases, even job opportunities. This is what you expect from almost any event you attend, paid or free, it doesn’t matter. And if you live in big cities, you often have the feeling of not being able to keep up with everything and at the same time that you have missed something. Or, if you attend, that you have not taken everything you need, that you have not been able to weave relationships of value, in short, that you have only wasted time.
So how can you make sure that a large event that you attend really turns into a real opportunity for your present and professional future?
Let’s see it in 9 “moves”.
1. Choose the really useful events and “plan” your participation
It happens to receive a newsletter, an invitation on Facebook or to see a post on LinkedIn of a person we “follow” that signals a “large” event. Before deciding to participate – beyond the possible cost – try to understand how much you are interested in and if it is similar to your personal training objectives and career path. If it is, another thing to consider is the expected date.
Is It a day of the month or a time of the year when you know you’re busy? Before making the commitment, try to understand how to organize yourself – take holidays, postpone a delivery, etc … - then register. Too many events, especially if free, you register without thinking too much, so it costs nothing. This is only partially true: that event contributes to filling a calendar that is perhaps already full of appointments. So, better free up space on your calendar or diary and do the things you really have time for.
2. Prepare for the event
Once you have chosen the event, do not limit yourself to knowing broadly what the program of the day is, but try to gather more specific information on the topics, as well as on the companies and people who will be present.
3. Report the event live
Don’t limit yourself to a passive presence and use social media to tell it. The intent, in this case, is twofold: with live tweeting (tweets made live) or a direct Facebook or Instagram, you certainly offer a service to those who could not come, thus increasing your reputation on certain topics and secondly getting to know who is attending the event. How? Thanks to the retweets, that is the raises that people make of your tweets, to the answers they give to what you have written, to the comments, but also by looking at how their lives are going. Then try to “converse”: not only produce content but respond to what others are doing, add your own, as if you were speaking face to face.
This will ensure that when there is a pause, the people with whom you have “talked” online will look for you or recognize you (if obviously, you have placed a recent photo in which the face is easily distinguishable). This will make it easier to start a speech and network.
4. Introduce yourself clearly and in seconds
Do you know the elevator pitches, those speeches that are made at the time of an ascent or descent in the elevator? Here, even if you don’t have to go on stage, it’s always good to keep in mind the ability to be concise. Because if there are many people at the event and they all want to network like you, then you have to hit and in no time.
Be brief, explain what you do and why you are there. There is no need to show all the activities, But only to say the ones you invest in particular. Remember: it doesn’t take much to make a good impression.
5. Use digital business cards
Exchanging digital business cards is a basic practice while networking. Today, business cards are very important in networking because you can make a business card in many ways: Digitally, NFC business cards, by using wood or plastic, and more.
While networking at large events, it’s important to share your virtual business card. Try to include all important information on your card. With Connectana, you can easily create your digital business card. After you’ve created your card through Connectana, you can share your card with anyone in the event, even if they don’t have the app. You can send them your card using a QR code, email, text, social media, WhatsApp, and more.
6. Ask questions and listen to the answers
The secret to great networking? Knowing how to ask. But not only that, you also need to know how to listen. If you ask questions that show interest and then you will really put that interest into practice, you will be remembered as people with whom it is pleasant to talk and you will certainly be able to establish a good relationship with the interlocutor.
So good that if you propose a later meeting, you are very likely to receive a yes: the feeling you left is positive so why shouldn’t that person spend more time with you?
7. Talk about your job and also about your interests
Think about the last time you met new people in a meeting with new clients or partners. What do you remember about them? Probably something you have been told has to do with work, and decisions that have been made, but what do you really remember about people?
If you are an attentive observer, a detail will probably come to mind, but if those people have told you about their passion, their hobby, it is sure that something more will remain impressed on you. Networking means sharing details that are not purely professional, those on which it is easier to build a meeting ground, on which it is easy to generate “empathy” or keen interest.
8. Do the so-called follow-up
Did you meet people, did you create a good feeling? Now is the time to “cure” this relationship. If you did not do it during the event, ask for friendship on Facebook, contact them on LinkedIn, follow the person on Instagram or Twitter and start chatting even virtually, perhaps commenting on what he publishes, asking questions about it, etc …
In addition, you can also send an email in which maybe you give the link to that article that you had suggested verbally or the name of a product that you had recommended, in short of something that you had mentioned verbally. If you can, do it within the next 24/48 hours because with the frenzied rhythms we are all used to, it is easy to “forget”.
9. Tell how the event went
To consolidate relationships, to have subsequent contact with the speaker, and also from a personal branding perspective, tell what you did at the event. You can do it in different ways: on your blog, if you have it, or maybe on LinkedIn by writing a post or an article in the Publishing section or on Facebook, etc … You can write the things that impressed you the most, add a detail that you have discovered or say what is appreciated and maybe tag the speakers, organizers, and people you met. Another way to continue building your network is to “remain etched” in people’s minds.
