Games for networking event

[aniinl]

Hello everyone,

I'm about to organize a networking event and I was wondering if any of you had some ideas for games or exercises in which people will really have to interact with each other.

I want to make it a fun event and have people change their minds about networking (as some are really uncomfortable with it or even scared of it). Everyone is supposed to have a "wow" time that will make them want to come back.

I already have a few ideas, but I'm still looking for more input, so I have some variety and can do different games/excercises at each event.

Thank you
Anja

[sinairesse]

hey wasup
   its depends on the nature of your networking and for what purpose?

[aniinl]

Right now I'm preparing a networking event for small business owners, but I'm also looking for other, general ideas.

Thank you,
Anja

[Michelle Young]

There is a small business network in my local area, its always set on one day a month, example a Tuesday morning, and held for a business breakfast. It is working well, each person chips in a certain amount of money each time, which covers the breakfast, there are introductions from everyone, and the type of business they are. Each month one person delivers a talk on their company etc, goals, aims, yadda yadda and what they are searching for to attain their goals.
Its their Business Breakfast.
From knowing a few people that attend, they really enjoy going and have made some very good contacts within the group. New people can join via a recommendation of someome already within the group and they are introuduced. Though i guess when starting from scratch you would not be able to use this method.
I think if i was to approach it in regards to setting it all up, i would set a date, time and place, advertise it in the local paper, ask people to respond so you will have a good idea on numbers and to be able to give them some information on what your goal is etc. The first meeting would be information gathering, and introductions, and see where it goes from there.

Hugs
Michelle

[Dave11:11]

I have belonged to some networking groups and the one thing they all have in common was the requirement that you only have one person per industry.  That way its not filled up with 10 Realtors and 5 Insurance Agents and 4 Mortgage Brokers. 

Make it affordable, some of the large national networking groups are fairly expensive each week.

If its designed to be regular scheduled meeting, offer to buy breakfast for the person who has the most leads for the others in the group.

Maybe find a book and work through a certain amount of it each week or session once you get a core group of people.

One way to get people to have fun is create a quick questionaire each week and have them fill them out, and then pass them one person to their left or right and let someone else introduce them.  Its a fun way I start each of my classes/seminars!

You can do lots of things with visualization exercises.  Have them use their non-dominate hand to draw, with crayons, a picture of their dream day in their business.  This will connect both sides of their brain, and the smell of crayons will bring out the 7 year old dreamer in them!

Hope these help!

Dave

[aniinl]

Michelle, Dave,
thank you!

I think I have a pretty clear vision on how I am going to set this all up. First I'm going to start "recruiting" (starting today at an international/local fair) for my network.
Once I have, say 80-100 people, I'll organize the event in a small venue and invite about 60 people (to make sure 30-40 actually show up). Invitation, in order to avoid half of the people are from the same industry (agree with you Dave).

On the event, the main purpose will be to get people to interact with each other. Not to stand up and talk about their business, but to make personal connections (in which they obviously talk about what they do, but it's easier than getting up and standing in front of a crowd, plus I'm sure more people will ask you for your business card). And for this, I'm going to use fun games.

Last year I went to an event where they did a "networking-bingo". Each square said something like "Find the person who owns a windmill!" So everyone was buzzing around, trying to talk to every one, to have their bingo sheet filled with names first. I'm planning to do 1 or 2 games until everyone has interacted with everyone (therefore small groups), which will make it easy for them to just chat and have small talk later. Maybe I'll do "speed-networking". Michael had us do speed-coaching last year in Amsterdam, so this must be possible, too

And later, maybe I'll do the breakfast thingy... They do already exist here and I don't really want to re-create something that already exists, plus, my main reason to do all this is to take the fear of "networking" or "selling myself" from people, by making it different, personal and most of all fun. Getting up and talking about their business is not everybodie's cup of tea, and I don't want people to feel like they have to go to these events, to make contacts. I prefer people to want to come and ask "when is the next one??" ;-)

Anja

[Dave11:11]

Let me know how this goes, I am fasicnated with the large numbers you are shooting for!

Dave

[southnick]

The problem with most of the networking events I go to is that they are not about networking, they are about bad selling.
Most events seem to consist of someone coming up to me saying "Hello I do printing (MLM,  mortgages) do you require any printing (MLM, mortgages). If I do, then great, if I don't they look embarased for a moment and find someone else to talk to.

A great networking event would be where people put you in touch with other people. I would still buy their printing if I wanted some but there would be other benefits if I didn't want printing that week.

I have an idea which is totally stolen from the recent "Coaching Mastery" course that Michael ran last week. (I will write a review of it soon, but just for the moment I would say "find out when he is doing another one and book up NOW")
The idea is speed coaching.
It is similar to speed dating or speed networking but with a different intention.

The idea is not to sell your business for 3 minutes, but for the other person to say what they most need in their business at the moment. You then suggest  ways that they can solve that problem, it may be that you have solved the same issue in your company, you may know of a neat way to solve the problem that someone else has used or you may know of a company that can help.

All participants should wear name badges with a one line description of their business so that during the 3 minutes you will also register what the other person does.

I don't go top networking events very often now but I would certainly go to this if it were in my area (Southampton,UK)

[aniinl]

southnick,
exactly my point! This is why people actually don't like networking events, because they feel they have to sell themselves or they need to listen to others, giving them a sales speech they don't want to hear.

Last weekend, I went to an international fair here in The Hague, and the vast number of networks that exist already was a bit discouraging for me at first. But then I remembered that I've been to some of them and really did not enjoy it, because everyone was just there to talk about their business. That's absolutely not what I want to do. I want to form personal relationships on the basis of helping each other out. The events are there to connect. To have fun together and to get to know new people. Not to promote your business. (The other part will be online, but also there, offering your services will be only in RESPONSE to people's queries. Otherwise it'd be advertising...)

I made 2 new contacts that day at the fair. I did not have a stand of my own, I visited other people's stands. I met a painter, who had a painting of a doorknob behind him on display, which I found really funny, so we started talking. He's from Washington and just arrived in the Netherlands. I have an Italian friend who is a painter, too, has family in Washington and loves it so much she wants to move there. Turns out this painter also speaks Italian! My Italian friend happened to be at the fair, too, so I got her and introduced them and they were like, "We HAD to meet today!" He's now in my network. I also saw the stand of a photographer and fell in love with her photos. I complimented her on them and she just smiled and said thank you. She did not give me a sales pitch, she just let her photos speak for themselves. I took her contact details, emails her a few days later and she joined my network. This is how I like it.
I also met a personal assistent kind of person, who gave me a whole rehearsed speech on what she does and how beneficial her services would be to me (not knowing that I'm offering the same kind of services when coaching small business owners). So I found out all about her, including her prices and dediced I'd rather hire me when given the choice between her and me . I did not invite her to my network. Not because we'd be competition, I'm not too keen on doing admin assistance anyway, but just because she doesn't fit into my vision of this network.

I've been to Michael's coaching mastery course in Amsterdam last year, so of course a variation on the cool speed coaching thingy is on my list, haha! Maybe not for the first event but for later ones.

Hey, I'm commuting between The Hague and Exeter a lot, maybe we can organize something between Southampton and Exeter some day!

Anja

[Jen Waller]

Hi Anja,

Just a quick thought, in my experience you are quite right peoples initial response to hearing/reading etc about a "networking" event is that it is really a sales event. Have you considered calling yours something else so that you bypass that initial reaction and potentially get more of the people you want interested rather than those who existing networking events appeal to?

It all sounds very exciting

Jen

[aniinl]

Hi Jen,

thank you!

Yes, that thought crossed my mind. To invent a new word for "networking" So if you can help me with that, please do

Today I heard the term "friend-chising". Nice, he? But already used for something else...

Maybe something with "hub". People hub. Hubbing. Would make sense as my single friends already mentioned they might find a "hubby" at those events.. 

Anja