Prepare to drink, socialize and see some cool startup demo this coming Tuesday at the nPost Networking Event.
After a long campaign by me and many others startup enthusiasts, Nathan Kaiser (nPost Master) decided to make the networking event more fun by selecting 5 startups to demo their product.
The event this Tuesday will include a demo from:
The event will be at the Columbia City Theater (4916 Rainier Ave. S, Seattle, 98118) starting at 6:30 PM on April 22nd, 2008. Entrance is free and the list of attendees is already at 115 (!) people.
I'm not a professional networker, but I'm at the pro-amateur league. I think in 2007 I probably attended 25-30 networking events, from NWEN, AoA, nPost, WSA/WTIA and more. Each week I get more and more convinced the value in attending those. I can't count how many partnerships and friendships I've made directly or indirectly of attending such events, but I can say it was a lot.
Enough with the preamble, ahead of a week with many events (nPost, Jackson Fish Market, UW, WTIA) these are my 9 tips of how to make the most of networking events for tech startups (and other kinds of networking events as well)...
Tip #1: Go Alone!
This might be the hardest advice of them all. Some people are just not comfortable going alone to anything, much less an event full of strangers. But the whole point of a networking event is to network with people, more importantly network with people you don't know yet. If you bring a friend you'll close the door to get to know others in many ways.
Tip #2: Avoid Recruiters
I'm 100% sure there is a book somewhere on "how to become a recruiter" that says they must attend every networking event in town and hand out as many business cards as possible. Unless you are going to a networking event to find a job or to find a recruiter, save your time and the recruiter's time and make it quick.
Tip #3: Less People Is More
This is not speed dating people! One time this guy came to me and he introduced himself, I introduced myself and 1 minute and 30 seconds after it all started he was doing the same thing with the guy next to me, then the next, then the next, etc. Your goal should be to get to know 2-3 new people and spend some quality time with them.
Tip #4: It's Not All about Business
Yes, we love to talk about our startups, about our services, about our challenges, but it's ok to talk about life, family, sports, etc. Don't be too focused on trying to get as many people to know all of your problems and your pitch. Just think it's a social network event (but on the real world).
Tip #5: Take Initiative
Don't just hang in a corner waiting for somebody to ask you to dance, take the initiative and introduce yourself. It is fine to pretend you are texting someone if everybody looks busy on their conversations until an opportunity appears. Everybody does that.
Tip #6: Avoid the Large Groups
If you see a large group of people (4 or more), talking, laughing, having a good time, your instincts will be to walk to that group. Don't! Not only you'll be lost because the context of the conversation was already established long ago, but you won't be able to say anything without looking like an "intruder". Now, it's perfectly fine to go to a group of two people talking and introduce yourself. The jury still out if it's ok to join a group of 3.
Tip #7: You Have Two Ears
Listen twice as much as you talk. This is pretty hard because entrepreneurs and geeks in general are very self-centered (yes, I said it – let the hate comments begin). When you are listening to someone, do listen. Don't wonder through mindless thoughts of what you're going to say next to stop this person from talking. Be engaged on what they have to say.
Tip #8: Bring Business Cards
Here is the scenario: I go to a networking event, talk with 10 of my existing friends, spend time with 5 people that I didn't know before and guess what? I can't remember their name. Either because it was too noisy and I didn't listen, or because I forgot it. You'd think people wouldn't forget business cards, but they do, or they run out of it. Have at least 15-20 business cards with you.
Tip #9: Go To Networking Events
You can ignore all the tips above if you don't go to the networking events it won't matter. So, subscribe the Seattle 2.0 blog (feed or email) and learn about all upcoming events. Plug done!
Any other tips that I missed?
November, 2007
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