Conference season is upon us, and you might find yourself at an event with the specific instruction to “Network” commanded by your boss. While interacting with real-life humans can be daunting (omg, eye contact and physical contact!), networking is arguably the most important part of attending conferences and industry events. Below I’ve outlined a few simple ways you can get the ball rolling and break the ice to make some contacts and collect those business cards.
1. Get There Early and Mingle Over Muffins
Freshly baked morsels of ice breaking goodness…
Many conferences will offer some sort of morning coffee/tea/pastry combo in conjunction with registration, so get there early and mingle with fellow attendees. Don’t be overly enthusiastic — you don’t want to be That Guy so early in the morning — but usually pre-conference am mingling is a bit quieter and less overwhelming than other events throughout the day, so it’s a nice chance to quietly and casually meet some new people.
2. Sit with People You Don’t Know
Yes, even pigs
It can be hard to cut the cord and venture away from your entourage, but you really need to branch off on your own and meet new people if you want your trip to be valuable. Get to a session a bit early and ask to sit next to a stranger, then introduce yourself and strike up a conversation before the panel starts. Sit with new people each day at lunch and chat about what they do. Talk about yourself but also ask a lot of questions about them. Collect some business cards and follow up with everyone you meet — even if someone doesn’t seem like an appropriate client, they might prove to be a valuable colleague or contact for later down the road.
3. Be the Prepared Guy (or Girl)
Hey, you never know…
Be the person who has the power adapter, an extra pen and some paper, gum, candy, an extra copy of the session agenda, the wifi code, etc. Lots of people show up unprepared (or unprepared and hungover) to sessions, so if you can offer up whatever they need (Tylenol, notes, a foolproof hangover cure), you’ll look like the conference hero (not to be confused with the Jukebox Hero). Just be sure to follow up on opportunities like this — don’t just hand over a pen and say nothing, introduce yourself and get to know the person in need.
4. Attend Evening Events
Alcohol: the ultimate social lubricant
If someone’s hosting a post-conference networking event and you can attend, do it. You don’t have to stay out every night until 4 am, but you should strive to attend as many parties, mixers and dinners you can score invites to. Oftentimes the most valuable contacts are made in bars and at post-conference events, probably because people are less formal and more at ease when they’ve got a belly full of food and a drink in their hand.
5. Be Generous (if you can afford it)
Close enough…
If you can, offer to host a dinner or buy a round of drinks. You don’t have to do anything huge like sponsor a huge event, but if you can take a few folks out to dinner or buy some beers for a group, definitely do it. If you’re operating on a much smaller budget, give out candy, cookies, stickers, anything you can — you’d be surprised how many people are suckers for free stuff.
6. Have a Unique Business Card
It also may help to be Matt Inman
Patick posted last week about how you can blend social media into your business card, and this week he’ll tackle some more business card tactics. Creative cards build buzz and attract attention. If you have any say over how your business cards are designed, try to think of something a bit creative and different to stand out amongst the throngs of folks touting little 3.5×2 inch pieces of paper.
7. Don’t Try Too Hard
I hate you, Guy Fieri
You want to stand out at events, but don’t do it at the expense of your integrity or who you are. Be yourself — do you normally wear stupidly garish t-shirts? If not, why would you don one at a conference just to get attention? If you’re knowledgeable about something, work its way into a conversation naturally; don’t start spouting off stuff that you know in order to seem like an expert. You’ll probably end up alienating yourself and seeming like a know-it-all. Just be confident in yourself and play upon your strengths. If you’re funny, crack a few jokes. If you’re generous, buy some drinks. If you’re organized, share some notes. If you’re smart, help people answer some tough questions they need help with. If you’re none of the above and have no discernible personality or skill whatsoever…well, then maybe your boss needs to send someone else to these things. 
What other ways can you think of to be social at conferences? Bruce Clay shared some networking tips last year, but if you have any new ones, let us know by commenting or tweeting at 10e20!
27 Comments
The best part about (1) is graphing the inevitable "Hangover Curve" at any SEO conference.
Day 1: Free breakfast full of wild-eyed attendees eager to learn.
Day 2: Slightly less attendees, mild brain overload, a few late-night drinking survivors.
Day 3: 50% of Day 1, bloodshot eyes, Alka-Seltzer shooters
Day 4: Free muffins are all mine, baby!
Very, very true.. That would make a really nice graphic Pete
Day 4 is probably comprised of all the uneaten Day 1-3 muffins.
A classic must read while on the subject – "15 Ways to Be a Conference Douchebag" – http://www.stuntdubl.com/2008/03/07/conference-do...
Absolutely — it's an oldie but a goodie.
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Thanks Rebecca
your tip number 3 about "3. Be the Prepared Guy (or Girl)" is spot on. This way you are using the law of reciprocity for psychological influence. If you help someone they are more likely to help you back and in this case atleast remember you
As they say in kindergarten, sharing is caring!
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Great post. Rebecca how do you handle the networking after the event, when you followed all you steps? It is interesting that most people do a nice job networking at the event but ruin it all after the event. What is your opinion on that?
I try to shoot everyone whose business card I collected an email relatively quickly, and I aim to be as personable as possible (try to personalize your message as much as you can — recall a conversation you had, bring up a hobby he or she mentioned, etc).
Blimey that's a bit extreme … I would just email them if I was you
What amazing advice. Eat muffins and chat. Be friendly to strangers. Bring gum. Drink. Get a round in. Don’t bring boring business cards. At least you’re adhering to point 7 I guess. No wonder you’re a social media expert. I certainly never would have thought of any of these ideas myself. It doesn’t read as common sense understood by everyone who’s not either a total moron or desperate to believe these are gems of wisdom or anything.
[...] to help build that network. Be sure to check out Rebecca’s great post from yesterday about 7 Ways to Network and Be Social at Conferences to help make this easier for [...]
Very good guidelines
…will try to take some chocolates with me next time I go to a conference 
At ad:tech London I figured out the most important thing one should bring is a lighter. At noon on the second day it hit me that it's impossible 8 out of 10 smokers not to bring lighter, and ask for one before introducing themselves
I've made it my goal for 2010 to make it to a large conference out west as few come even remotely close to South Carolina. I like to think the bit of southern charm i may still posses prevents me from acting like a douche; however we do love to drink & galavant
If you had to pick just 1 conference (and you do for my sake) which one would you attend???
The email contact info from Rebecca Kelley is great advice and I do it as often as possible. Funny, though, I have yet to receive one from the last several networking events I attended. Don't those people understand why they are attending? I may not need them now, but I may know someone who is interested in what they do! Or, I may need their products/services at a later time. C'mon people, wake up!
One piece of advice I would add to you list is….if you attend an event with an associate or partner — SPLIT UP! Double your efforts. My wife and I recently attended a breakfast networking round table. We split and met twice the number of people. Yet someone else we both knew (and my wife networks with) came with her business partner son. And, of course, they wound up sitting at the same table, pitching he same story. Shame, shame.
Splitting up is a great idea. It can feel intimidating to "cut the cord," but in the end it's more valuable for your business if you and your colleagues spread out and cover as much ground as possible.
I like the first images you're using, Rebecca. How you find a relative image for your post?
Thanks for a great information.
I just do a Google image search and pick images that I think will work best.
Isn't that, in some cases, a violation of copyrights? As an alternative, there are many sources of free photos, low cost photos, as well as clip art programs loaded with images and avatars.
MikeY – yes, 10e20 has had an account at Shutterstock for a long time and we love it. It's a fixed monthly price but you get a fixed amount of images to use each day. Very cool service.
You make a good list. Some of the points mentioned I haven't thought about but you make for a good point about being prepared by taking extra items and taking risks with people you don't know. For a conference you have to think this way.
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I can add one more tip to your list – get acquainted with mates of your friends – this way you'll extend your social contacts!
It's really significant to maintain the existing social connections – the wider your social network is – the bigger are your chances to receive all the necessary information.