The success of networking events depends not only on your performance at the event itself, but on the experience you create for your guests, the little details distinguishing your event from all the others out there, and your overall engagement before, during, and after.
BERLIN – Hosting networking events is an essential tool for public affairs professionals as it combines opportunities to foster your network, raise your visibility, and strengthen your brand. Effective networking isn’t about quantity though, it’s about quality.
Here are five of the most common mistakes to avoid:
1. Picking the wrong main attraction
The first thing your guests will look for is your main attraction. Picking the right keynote speaker or panel and having them meet your guests’ expectations will make or break your event. A great speaker can elevate your event from merely informative to truly inspirational. It is important to pick a main act, who is fairly known and draws a crowd. Your guests usually receive many invitations and get to see ‘celebrities’ all the time though. Make sure you impress them with a name they don’t get to see every day, with new insights on a current issue, background information, or a story they haven’t heard yet. Therefore, when choosing your main attraction, think about your audience first.
2. Choosing the wrong venue
The choice of venue is critical to the success of your event, especially in cities that offer breakfast events, lunch-talks, and evening receptions every day of the week. Your guests have seen most venues, know most caterers, and don’t want to spend too much time in a taxi between your event and their next appointment. Therefore, pick a venue, which is easy to reach and put some effort into choosing an adequate setting for your event. The more stylish the interior, or the more scenic the view – the more pictures your guest will take and post on their social media. The better the catering, the longer your guests are willing to stay. Don’t be predictable. Be bold and try something new.
3. Inviting the world to fill seats
The success of your event does not necessarily depend on how many people eventually show up, but also on who you’re in touch with during the invitation-process. Take a strategic approach to curating your guest list by creating a comprehensive stakeholder map for your specific purpose. Identify key decision makers, industry and opinion leaders, who fit the occasion. Invite only the people you want to connect with, those you want to nurture your relationships with, those who are a good fit with an intrinsic motivation to care about the topic. However, even if it seems appealing to have the room filled to the last seat, avoid handing out your invitations to everybody and their grandmother.