Better Business Summit: How to make the most of attending Industry Events
So you’ve invested in attending an industry event and you want to make the most of the investment of your resources but how are you going to meet and build meaningful relationships with the hundreds of people attending in such a short period of time. Read on to hear how co-founder of The Good Business Club approaches these events to effectively use her time while making an impact.
Summits, expos, panel discussions. Getting a large group of people together to debate the opportunities and challenges in the industry can be inspiring as well as a valuable space to network but it can be overwhelming. The key to making the most of these events is to use the time around the event as much as your attendance, as well as leveraging social media to pack a punch.
The decision to attend The Better Business Summit stemmed from the opportunity to connect with potential customers as well as organisations that we collaborate with, so about a month before the event, I got myself a ticket for the event and committed to making the most of the investment to raise the visibility of the work we am doing, deepen the existing relationships we have, and let serendipity do it’s magic.
When approaching these events, I find it helpful to break down the activity into pre, during and post event to really make the most of the event, so I’ve done the same below for you to use as a template.
Sara with GBC member Tash Morgan-Etty at the Better Business Summit.
Pre-Event
Let your existing network know you are attending
By posting on your social media or into the community groups you are part of before the event, you can firstly identify who else if going to the event so you know who to look out for, and secondly you are letting the rest of your network know what conversations you are interested in.
For the Better Business Summit, I posted on my Linkedin with a direct call out to anyone else who was attending and it got my excited about who I could catch up with on the day. I also posted in The Good Business Club Slack channel and discovered enough members were going that we organised to meet for lunch at the event. You don’t have to be so organised, but as the founder of the community - of course I wanted to bring my people together.
Review the schedule and choose the activity you want to attend
I must admit, I didn’t do this until the day but fortunately the schedule and layout of the activity on the day was fairly straightforward. I chose the conversations that were most relevant to where my head was at with my work and where I thought I could add most value. What was particularly enjoyable was the Catalyst Conversations that the BBS organised. You would join 15 - 20 other attendees and contribute to the conversation started by the panel. Interactive, collaborative and two way. I was glad I got a seat for the conversation exploring underrepresented people in the world of business and posed my own questions to the panel to contribute to the discussion. More of this please.
The Better Business Summit in action!
During the event
Find the people you want to reconnect with
This is a great way to jump into an event with two feet, without feeling overwhelmed by the unknown. As soon as you’ve signed in, find the tea and coffee and start to locate the people you know are going to be there. This eases you into the energy of the day, probably helps those people out who might also feel overwhelmed, and potentially gives you a buddy to start the day with (Thanks Tash!).
Say hello to anyone nearby and get curious
Now you’ve eased yourself in, let’s get bolder. Every time you move to another session, intentionally go and sit next to someone new. It’s worth remembering that most people are in the same situation as you (on their own and keen to connect with new people), so sitting next to someone and saying hello will be warmly welcomed. Now you’ve started the conversation, time to build a new relationship. I find the “what do you do” question to be fairly limiting and doesn’t lead to juicy conversations, so here are some questions that I will lead with instead:
What made you decide to come to this event?
What are you looking forward to today, and why?
What has been the most memorable element of the event so far?
These questions allow people to share what is important to them and what’s of interest, a much easier way to pick up on a conversation thread to follow. Look out for common interested and also things that are different that you can ask them more about. Finally, as the conversation draws to a natural close, ask them if they would be happy to connect on Linkedin and use the QR Code function to quickly find them.
Make notes for your follow up
When talking to people that you know and those that are new, take notes afterwards as prompts for you follow up. Did they mention something you want to talk more deeply about? Were they looking for help with something? Did you think of someone you could connect them with? Capture it while it’s fresh in your mind. Your future self will thank you for it.
Take photos
Wether you are a fan of a selfie or not, take a couple of photos on the day to capture the atmosphere and particularly any slides that spoke to you. You can use these on your social media posts during and after the event (see below). It might be a little awkward to ask someone to take a photo with them, but I promise you they will be grateful once they realise they didn’t take any and you can ping yours over to them to use.
Find the speakers on social media and connect with them
As you are listening to the discussions and speeches, find the speakers and their associated organisations on Linkedin and other social media channels and connect with them. This will make it a lot easier to tag them in any content you put out and to find them after the event if you want to follow up with them.
Talk about the event on social media
Most events will set up a social media account and hashtag to try and collate the virtual conversation, and BBS was no exception. At the start of the day they announce that the hashtag was #BBS23 so I got on Twitter and posted about being excited about the event. Every time I heard something during the conversations that moved me in some way, I captured it on Twitter, like Faith in Nature’s appointment of Nature on it’s board! Tag any of the speakers or other attendees in your post for the potential of reaching further if they share it with their networks.
Engage with others’ posts on social media
Staying with social media, you can also search the #BBS23 and see who else is talking about the event. You can filter posts by ‘Latest’ and scroll through to see what others are sharing about the event. ‘Liking’ posts will help others discover who you are and ‘Retweeting’ their posts is an easy way to talk about the event without needing to create new content. As well as being discovered, you can check out the profiles of those who are tweeting and if they feel like they are relevant, give them a follow.
A panel at the Better Business Summit, chaired by GBC member Sophie Turton of The Joyful.
Post-event
Post about the event on your social media
I’d go back to Linkedin for the summary post and there are a few formats you can take. Some people like to summarise some of their key takeaways from the day, others will share how the event made them feel and what actions they will take next. Which ever approach you take, use the photos you took, tag everyone you saw as well as the organisers. I might also link to that post on Twitter to link up the two channels.
Follow up with the people you saw
Know those notes you made? Go back to them and follow up with everyone you met. If you promised them something - ping it over. If you said you’d made a connection - make that introduction. If you didn’t promise anything but just want to say how nice it was to connect - drop them a note.
Reach out to people who you didn’t meet
Go back to the post that you engaged with via the #BBS23 on Twitter and look at who commented on other peoples Linkedin posts about attending the event. If your paths didn’t cross, not to worry, you’ve got the perfect ice-breaker to build that relationship. I will reach out to them with a note something like this:
“Hello Sam, I saw that you also attended the Better Business Summit last week. Our paths didn’t cross there but anyone who attended definitely shares my business values and I’d love to connect. Sara”
I also find that I also miss the opportunity to meet people I am connected with on Linkedin but haven’t ever spoken to. So I take the opportunity to check in with them too.
Set up virtual coffees with these new connections so you can build your network beyond just the people you actually met at the event.
Getting the most out of industry events goes beyond just rocking up. Taking on even one or two of these other actions will help your investment go further and take the pressure off of the activity happening on the day.
Networking, Good Business Club-style
Join the Good Business Club every month for networking with a difference.