BUSINESS
Networking at events and conferences
Professional events and conferences offer an opportunity for us to sell ourselves, make new contacts and explore new opportunities. Whether you call it networking or schmoozing, the objective is the same – to get some value out of the interactions you make at the event.
Some people are born with a natural ability to mingle, connect quickly and easily with new people, and extract information from them in a few minutes. People like my late cousin Efere Ozako and my dear friend Rumbi – I call them social prefects. When we were in university, every time we would go off campus or have off-campus visitors for an event, by the end of the event, Rumbi would know just about everybody who was in attendance, where they came from, what their interests were and who else at the party they needed to meet (she would go as far as doing the introductions). When it was time to leave, I knew that the first ‘goodbye’ was no assurance that we were leaving the event within five minutes. Our exit could come 20 minutes later because there was always one more person to say a proper goodbye to, one last thing to say to someone else, etc. Twenty-something years on, Rumbi is still the same effortlessly, sociable woman. For the rest of us, we need to work at being sociable, and coming out of our shells to experience new people.
Nigerians are known to have large representation based on registered participants at international events and conferences; however, our actual participation/appearance at these events is usually poor. I know from experience that you may arrive in a city with a plane load of Nigerians registered to attend an event in that city, and you may not see 75% of them for the entire duration of the event. For some people, these events are an opportunity to travel abroad and do their annual shopping, or get a little rest and relaxation sanctioned by the boss.
If you are attending an event and intend to get some value out of it, here are some quick tips:
Do your research – Try and get a hold of the programme of events and scheduled activities before your departure so that you that you can plan your time, for instance categorize workshops and seminars into ‘must attend’, ‘would be good to attend’, and ‘only attend if I am bored’ – categorize as you please, to highlight the sessions that you must attend and those that you can live without. Find out who the speakers are, what they are about and if you would like to have one-on-one conversations with them and their contact details are provided, send an advance email and start the conversation before you get to the event.
Prepare yourself – You might have an objective that you are pursuing (investors, partners in a new jurisdiction, partners in a joint venture, resource persons for an event, etc); have that objective clearly defined and be ready to sell it and yourself. Create something that people can take away and remember you and what you are about. Just like your website or brochure, get professional help to create a call card that stands out. You don’t want your call cards to get lost in the shuffle, and if you are giving away something other than call cards, make sure it is not too bulky. Luggage allowance is slim these days so if it is bulky people will trash it as they pack to go home.
Break away from the pack… – and break into a new one. Try not to spend all your time with only the Nigerian delegates. Be open to experiencing new things and new people. Join new groups of people in conversation (the general rule is to stay away from a group of just two people but if they don’t look too cosy, you could join them).
Participate – Don’t be a wallflower. Contribute to discussion sessions, but please, keep it straight to the point; by the end of a lecture, no one really wants to hear a two- or three-part question or comment.
Notes – Device a way of remembering the people that you have met. You may have a small notebook or you may just jot down a few notes on the person’s call card. At the end of the event, you may find that you have collected some cards and do not remember why you have them.
Follow-up – When you get back to home base, send an email to those contacts that you hit it off with. It could be the beginning of a new partnership, or at the very least, a friend you can have a drink with the next time you are in their city.
Have fun schmoozing.
