The Top Floor Flat

From the biggest events in the industry, such as the recent SXSWi, to large grassroots events such as Twestival to small meetups of a few interested people, there are plenty of opportunities out there to connect with others in the tech industry.  If you listen to the big-wigs in the scene, the majority of these events, big or small, are an excuse for free booze, hanging out with old friends and generally enjoying one’s self with relatively little attention paid to business or technology (except when comparing iPhone apps).

However, at the end of the day, information exchange, learning, networking and moving your self or your business forward is the main reason your company sends you to conferences, or you decide to go yourself.  From my experiences, here are some ways to make sure that, in addition to the open bar and good times, you take some additional value away from your event – even if you can’t compete for best iPhone apps.

1) It’s not all about business!
Yes, this is a contradiction of what I’ve just written however this is a fairly important prerequisite to getting some value, especially networking value, out of these events.  During one of the first meetups I organised, a couple arrived halfway through our casual event and had distributed business cards before even taking a seat at the table.  Their introduction was a 15 minute pitch on their start up. Instead of coming to chat, share their questions and experiences and show through their knowledge or enthusiasm that their business was relevant or useful, they instead came across as talk with no substance, and in the aggressive way they had hijacked the event, they certainly didn’t make any friends right away.

Even if you are attending to promote your business or service, you’ll be better served trying to work that into a conversation, or showing your expertise and personality in conversation before trying to sell.

2) Know what you want out of the event
It is incredibly difficult to gauge how much you gained from an industry event if you have no idea what you want in the first place.  Even simple goals such as, ‘meet three new people in my industry,’ ‘get some ideas for community building,’ or ‘take away one positive business practice I can begin using immediately’ will help guide you through seminars or networking events. Also be realistic.  If your goal is to find 50 new customers, you’d better be sure that you’re selling a service or product that interests the others at the event.

I’ve found that a very effective goal for me is to find an expert in a subject with which I am beginning to work.  For example, as I have begun to look at community building and the role of a community manager at work, I have tried to engage in conversation with people who have experiences in community building, and hopefully build bridges so that I can contact them in the future with questions.

3) A little research goes a long way
Some research about the event or its attendees can make a big difference when you arrive. If there are going to be seminar sessions, plan which ones you should attend in advance.  If the guest list is available, it could be worth your while to glance through the list.  In a recent meetup, I noticed one of the attendees had an interesting blog about gaming and girl gamers and when we met at the event, not only was she happy I had seen her site but we were able to have a more in depth conversation about our interests.

What are some of the things you do before attending industry, networking or meetup events?