In this episode of Event Experience by Bizzabo, host Rachel Moore is joined by a panel of event professionals to discuss the future of event networking. Oren Berkovich, Co-founder of Projectory, Haley Guerin, Director of Events and Venue at Capital Factory, Will Curran, Brand Ambassador at Bizzabo, and Katie Noe, Product Marketing Manager at Bizzabo. The conversation explores common networking challenges at events, such as lack of structure, awkward icebreakers, and accessibility issues, and emphasizes the importance of intentional design, inclusivity, and leveraging technology like AI and smart badges to facilitate meaningful connections for both introverts and extroverts.
The panelists share practical strategies for creating engaging and accessible networking environments, including curated matchmaking, clear networking paths, and integrating technology to track and enhance interactions. They also discuss measuring networking ROI through both quantitative and qualitative data, the role of psychology in fostering connections, and the challenges of hybrid event networking. The episode concludes with actionable insights for event planners to ensure networking is a highlight that keeps attendees coming back.
Here’s what you’ll hear about in this conversation:
Rachel Moore: Welcome to Event Experience by Bizzabo, the podcast where we bring the best and brightest event experience leaders together to share stories, tips, and lessons learned from creating some of the world's biggest events. I'm Rachel Moore, your podcast host.
Introverts, extroverts, and everyone in between gather together as we confront the Holy Grail of event networking in this special episode of our webinar, the Future of Event Networking Smarter Matches, Better Conversations. Joining us on this quest are an expert panel of event pros:
Oren Berkovich, co-founder of Projectory; Haley Guerin, director of events and venue at Capital Factory, Will Curran, brand ambassador at Bizzabo, and Katie Noe, product marketing manager at Bizzabo. Together we'll tackle networking from the perspectives of [00:01:00] inclusivity, ROI, and technology, all crucial components for any event experience.
Without further ado, let's introduce today's webinar speakers. First we have Oren Berkovich. Oren is a person with founder in his DNA. As the co-founder of Projectory, his mission is to make our events reality, one with less talking heads and more heads talking. And he accomplishes this with a team of facilitators, designers, futurists, and producers who joined forces to turn information dense events into engaging, memorable experiences.
He's also a Bizzabo veteran and his go-to event day shoes are really any kind of sneakers that whisper professional but scream orthopedic support. All of us can relate! Oren, welcome to the discussion today.
Oren Berkovich: Having me. Nice to be here.
Rachel Moore: Next we have Haley Guerin. Haley is Director of Events and Venue at Capital Factory, the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas.
She leads over 90 events annually and [00:02:00] develops programming that engages over 15,000 attendees across startups, venture capital, government, and Fortune 500 companies. Haley goes with Jordan's for keeping her moving through those long event days.
Thanks for joining us, Haley.
Haley Guerin: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Rachel Moore: Next up we have Will Curran. Will is the Brand Ambassador at Bizzabo, where he leads the charge to bring Klik Smart Badges to the world of events. Will has spent nearly two decades shaping the future of events, working with global brands like Amazon, Google, Louis Vutton, Warner Brothers, Uber, and Bizzabo to deliver transformative event experiences.
Will's shoe choice for those full days on his feet are and I think some of us can relate with this, whatever matches the brand he's representing. So welcome back to the stage Will.
Will Curran: Thanks so much for having me, Rachel. Stoked to be here.
Rachel Moore: Finally, let's introduce Katie Noe. Katie is our Product Marketing Manager at Bizzabo and she is a staunch believer in customer research and revenue focused [00:03:00] strategy. All the C levels love that. She is self-described pie-shaped marketer, focused on both product and content marketing and her feet are wearing New Balance 574s on those long event days. Katie, pleasure to see you here as well.
Katie Noe: Hi, thanks for having me.
Rachel Moore: Awesome. As we get started, and before we dive into our key topics, we are going to be revealing the winning answer to the poll that y'all answered during the registration process.
Which of these networking nightmares have you experienced or witnessed? So we've got no clear space for networking, awkward icebreakers that flopped, too loud to have a convo that's like literally everywhere, including bars and stuff, forced matchmaking gone wrong, maybe a networking hour with zero structure, and others that we can discuss in the webinar.
Katie, let's start with you. Which one would you pick?
Katie Noe: Yeah. So I have a story of an awkward icebreaker that flopped. I went to this B2B event whose theme was a niche hobby that I happened to have.
So I was like, great, I am ready to [00:04:00] talk about this. And on the coffee cups, they had questions related to that hobby. But turns out pretty much everyone that was there because they knew an organizer of the event, not because they had that hobby. So I had some real awkward conversations to start.
I learned really quick, I needed to find a different way in than the coffee cup ice breakers.
Rachel Moore: Oh, that is super awkward. That's an excellent example. Let's go to Haley. How about you?
Haley Guerin: I'm gonna go with too loud to have a conversation. So we've been trying to actively solve for this for a really long time.
When We hire external staffers to help us out, like scanning Bizzabo badges or running Bizzabo check-in, things like that, we also assign them to escort folks that are still asking speaker questions or talking in the back of the room outside to continue the conversation.
So, yeah, I, that one is definitely a constant solve.
Rachel Moore: Yeah. Oren, how about you? Which one struck out to you?
Oren Berkovich: Well, I'm gonna pick [00:05:00] networking hour with zero structure, just 'cause it, it hasn't been talked yet.
You know, there's this trend where you see programs, they just add networking to whatever it is, whether it's a break or whether it's a reception or whether whatever. There's a good networking in hope that will get everybody to actually network but not create the structure around it to support it.
So I feel like that's a common thing where you just put networking on it and expect people to network, but there's no supporting structure for it. Yeah. So that would be my pick.
Rachel Moore: Absolutely. Lastly Will, which one for you?
Will Curran: I'm gonna go left field and say other, you know, it's awkward to me is when someone comes up to you and they clearly just want to sell you something and then when they like quickly find out that like, Hey, you're not a good fit, they still try to scan your badge in their QR code 'cause they're an exhibitor.
And I hate that so much. Like, oh, can I scan you? We're not even talking about your business. No,
Rachel Moore: Absolutely. I'm also gonna say other one of my big pet peeves around not at all, is 'cause you know how we're all wearing badges and they're right [00:06:00] around our belly buttons. That's my favorite part is walking up to someone, I'm like, okay, let me stare at your navel and now I'm gonna ask, say hi to you.
So anyway, that's what of mine, but I'm sure we'll talk more. Let's create our own react video right now as we reveal the winning answer from everyone's answer during registration. Which of these networking nightmares won or rather lost the biggest, let's see it, all right Oren, picked the winner, winner, chicken dinner. We're gonna get into this today too. I mean, every, the expectation, right, is that, oh, you all know how to network go.
And so just not giving any way to just do it proactively.
So with that, let's get into today's discussion. I'm gonna say a temporary and fawn farewell to Haley, Will, and Katie. We're gonna have them back on in a little bit. For right now we're going to settle in just Oren and myself and you, dear audience. So Oren, let's dig into this together.
Events might have the most notable keynotes ever, the most stellar special effects, the most swashbuckling [00:07:00] agenda and attendee tracks. But if they fail at networking, that can often be the biggest and worst takeaway for the entire experience. You and I are here together to crack the networking code if we can.
And a perfect starting point was that registration poll, because we've all had some, at minimum subpar networking experiences, no matter how hard the event is tried or how we've tried. Let's see if Oren, if we can fix this for everyone's benefit. So I'm gonna kick off this first question to you. In your experience, what are some of the common pitfalls that event organizers face when they're trying to facilitate networking?
Oren Berkovich: Yeah, I mean, I think that was a pretty good list there with the polling and there's you know, more that we can add to the list. Because the choice that seems like the majority of the people's mind was structure. I feel inclined to kind of speak to that a little bit more.
Think about last time, Rachel, you were, or anybody from the audience been to a restaurant, right? Like, you walk in and you immediately feel a certain way [00:08:00] and that's not accidentally, like, there's a quite a lot of design choices that people made, you know, the volume of the music.
I mean, we talked about environments that are too loud. Or the lighting and the type of furniture and like, there's just so many environmental aspect about it that when you walk in, you feel a certain way.
I feel like to me, like if there's one connected line between all these different answer choices on the ball or other things that are kind of pitfalls in networking is lack of intention and thoughtfulness.
Yeah. Like if you're thinking about all these design choices that will create that environment. It doesn't have to be brilliant. It doesn't have to be beautifully designed. It doesn't have to be complicated. But I do think it needs to be intentional and thoughtful for the networking to be I guess more successful.
Rachel Moore: Yeah. You know, as you're talking this, I'm gonna age myself, y'all, but there's this movie called Field of Dreams. There's a line in it called If you build it, they will come. And [00:09:00] that's not necessarily the case. I mean, you could just throw together this space and the place that this, all, this networking's supposed to happen at your event.
But I really appreciate what you said there is make it intentional. Don't just say, oh, there's four walls and some carpet and Oh, a bar over there. You know, and then it's just naturally gonna happen that you're saying they really need to know, have a plan and know what you want everyone to get out of it and make sure that's facilitated in there in addition to just the actual geographical space.
Oren Berkovich: Right. Exactly.
Rachel Moore: We're driving this a bit too from the benchmarks report that Bizzabo unleashed into the events industry earlier this year. One thing that it brought up what attendees actually want from networking and what they don't want. So apparently 72% of attendees say that in-person conferences provide the best networking opportunities.
That's great news. That's like three out of four. Yet only 30% felt that there were abundant networking opportunities at the last in-person they attended. So that's again, right out of the benchmarking report available on our website. [00:10:00] I guess my question for you is where is the disconnect happening there between what attendees could be getting out of in-person networking at conferences and what they say that they're actually getting, which is not the best?
Oren Berkovich: Yeah, there's a few misconceptions about that from the event planner's perspective. I mean first we kind of talked about just adding the word networking doesn't mean that is going to lead to effective networking. So the agenda might have networking reception and networking break and networking lunch and networking breakfast, but there's no real networking happening there because of all these other things.
And so I think there is definitely a lot more opportunities to create the space in there. You know, as we, we talked about intention and thoughtfulness, but the circumstances that will make that networking more likely and maybe reduce that gap between what people say that they experience and what that people actually want.
The other thing is, you know, and this is a constant push and pull, I think when it comes to program design, is how much content to bake into the agenda. There is [00:11:00] always like, no, we have to have this speaker and this like handful of breakouts. And there is this inclination to think that more content means better, and in reality, you know, a lot of people, and obviously it depends from event to event, but generally speaking, I'm coming in person to an event is about connection, is about meeting new people. It's about doing things that we can't do online. And we all experienced trying to network during the pandemic. It didn't work well. Right. And so I think bringing everybody together in person, just so we can do information, download and share a lot of content, and then have a networking break is, you know, is not a great design choice.
Right. Yeah. And Reducing that need for content and realizing that people actually, like if you don't have something in the agenda, doesn't mean that program is not happening. Right. It's just not happening in your main room or your breakout. But it's certainly happening outside and I think people crave it.
Not over [00:12:00] programming and creating more opportunities. Like, you know, The best events I've been to had, you know, the evening had evening programming or morning things or just more opportunities to meet people that are not. Sitting in theater style, sitting and being talked at. Ultimately I think that's the key to kind of close that gap.
Rachel Moore: Yeah. You know, I'm thinking back I was able to attend PCMA and it was the first time I'd gone and I remember for an example they had, Hey, if this is your first time, come here at this time. I mean, the other first timers. But that's just one example of saying, you know, if you're especially if you're about to have like a multi-day in-person event.
Yes. Give those people someone to like, oh, I recognize you. I met you already, or Let's sit together in this session.
Taking this to this next question okay. We're all only human. Let's admit it.
This is a confessional step in, I'm gonna bring up the SEO keyword that everyone's cramming into, literally everything.
What do you think about using AI to make networking more meaningful and less painful? How is this figuring in
Oren Berkovich: Yeah, definitely a popular topic. And this is very anecdotal, but Back when I was [00:13:00] producing my own events, we used to print t-shirts to our AV team that said, AI is easy, AV is difficult because there's always something going wrong with AV.
But AI is certainly something that's becoming more and more like top of mind for event planners and events and all of us really in our day-to-day. You know, will AI help better understand who I am, who I'm looking to connect? Who else is in the event, the kind of conversation I want to have and have better matching?
Sure. Like I can see a path for that to happen. But at the end of the day, like I feel like, and this might be a little negative or dystopian, but I think that AI is going to help make live event connection better and more meaningful. Not because the technology itself is gonna help match me with other people.
I just think that there's going to be so much less meaningful things out there in terms of our social media, in terms of our [00:14:00] interactions, things that, you know, are AI generated that we don't really know if they're real or not. Or we become suspicious of how many of people we interact with online are actually human or AI.
So AI indirectly is going to make live event and in-person connection so much more meaningful, not because it's gonna help me have better matches, but because it's gonna do everything else that's not in real life less meaningful, because everything else is going to be pretty much garbage. That's gonna how I feel about all of that. But we'll live to see it, hopefully.
Rachel Moore: That is a great soundbite and true. I mean, I think we, we can all get that fatigue of just being like, oh my God, all the fake stuff. Let's push it to the side.
You're right, it can definitely do some of the heavy lifting to make some of those relationships a bit more easily facilitated. But as you said, it can also prompt us just to be, decide to be more human and present in that moment, which I think that's gonna be a great result. So that's a really good point.
Well, Oren, we really appreciate you digging into this with us. And may our [00:15:00] future networking endeavors be more successful, thanks to these insights. But for now we're gonna say goodbye to you briefly.
And Then we're gonna bring back on stage our other panelists Will, Katie, and Haley. So they're gonna join me on stage and as we do I promised y'all we were gonna have another poll.
So for everyone I want to emphasize, there is no wrong answer here. Okay? Would you class yourself as more of an introvert or an extrovert or a bit of both now? Will, I'm gonna start with you and I'm really excited to hear this because I might guess or assume what any of you are, but I might be wrong. So, will, what would you classify yourself as?
Will Curran: Let's see how, well, you know me, Rachel, I'm a little bit of both, believe it or not. Like I, I have extroverted tendencies. People like see me as an extrovert because of what, how I extroverted myself. But like, I need to recharge like everybody you know, there's definitely a lot of tendencies I have that make me introverted.
There's like, you know, like For example, like Sundays, I'm like, I don't want to talk to anyone. I wanna watch television and recharge after all the social things that have happened this week.
Haley Guerin: Yeah, so I put a bit of [00:16:00] both. I'm an introvert who masks extrovert.
Katie Noe: Yeah, so that's right on, because I'm a total introvert in all the classic ways, but I can turn it on when I'm in events I.
Rachel Moore: I'm gonna say I'm full blown extrovert. I do recharge about for a week every six months I'm like, and goodbye. I am shutting off from the world. I am not gonna be on social. I just go. And that's usually enough for me. But yeah, I've, I'm a, I'm an extrovert, so that's definitely mine.
So I do think we're all a mix, but we're all our own custom mix. And that can really make this a struggle, a challenge for what we're gonna talk about next. And let's dive into that. It's a key starting point to this next segment to discuss how event professionals can create inclusive, flexible networking opportunities for all attendees.
How do we crack that? So I'm gonna take this first question to you, Haley. How do you see introverts and extroverts navigating networking differently?[00:17:00]
Haley Guerin: So at Capital Factory, to your point, we work with everyone. We work with founders, Fortune 500 execs, VCs, public officials, military leaders. Media influencers, and with a wide variety of personas, I've learned that everyone feels like an introvert at first. So you have to design networking in your event to me, not specifically around personality types, but we plan every event, assuming that everyone is an introvert until proven otherwise.
So prior to the event scheduling one-on-one meetings and curated matchmaking we have connector teams that help facilitate that type of programming. It also just may be office hours, so choose your own adventure on who you need to speak with and themed lounges as well just for those informal connections.
But. It's also important, and I see John and Sheri Warner in the chat who run a very popular meetup in Austin called Fiesta, and we rely on ecosystem partners like them and [00:18:00] others to, or like a steady stream of familiar faces that attend every single one of our events. So you always have somebody familiar to look to and towards.
And then eventually, you know, we do end the day, of course, the happy hours and things like that where it's open or big startup crawls, and that's where then we level up to extroverts. So we build the pyramid from introverts extrovert over the course of an event.
Rachel Moore: Love that. Katie, I wanted to take that over to you as well.
Like, you know, How do you see introverts and extroverts navigating, you know, in their own unique ways?
Katie Noe: So for me as an introvert, there are lots of things that just help me feel more comfortable and help me be more successful. So one of those things is preparation at events that have apps with profiles that allows me to do a little bit of research and feel like I'm informed and confident going into those conversations.
LinkedIn is huge too. I've been trying to be more active over there, so I love when the profiles link. One-to-one meetings. Like Haley said, being able to talk in more of those small [00:19:00] groups at first I feel like helps introverts just warm up so that when you go to those large events, it's familiar faces already and you're ready to enter those group conversations.
And then last, it's just time to rest. Back to back social events can be really tiring. So while those networking areas or lounges are super important it's also important to provide either time in the agenda or a specific space to be able to go recharge a little bit before you enter the craziness again.
Rachel Moore: Haley, you had said the word ecosystem. I think that's so gosh. 'cause if you think about that, you know, everyone maybe remember from science class ecosystems is where, you know, like living things have their different things. They need to thrive in that ecosystem.
And if they don't have it, then they fail. But you're providing that. Katie, I'm gonna take this next question to you. What are ways you and event professionals can design networking environments that do work for. Everyone, quote unquote.
If you have an example to share, we'd love to hear it as well. [00:20:00]
Katie Noe: Yeah, absolutely. I call it setting the rules of the game. When organizers are able to lay those out, networking just becomes so much easier.
So, of course, you know, I'm pretty biased here, but my examples come from Bizzabo's most recent networking launch. So one of the things that we saw with our design partners was self-selecting interests and matchmaking. That was super helpful. Within Bizzabo's feature, you can customize the interest. So one of our partners, maybe professional interests weren't as applicable to their audience, so they switched those over to industry. I've also seen geography, hobbies. Hopefully that works out better than my coffee cup example before. But you know, it just depends on your audience that you have at your event. So those folks can see where they match and have something to talk about immediately.
The other thing that I'm sure Will is going to talk about in a second is just really integrating that networking into the fabric of your event culture. And of course, Klik is one of the best ways to do that. I'm a new Bizzaboer. I've been here for about six months and I just had my first experience with [00:21:00] Klik and it's so cool how you can just go up to people and they almost wanna Klik with you before even asking your name.
So as an introvert, and also that's great for me, right? I'm like, I'm ready to do this. Let's talk, let's Klik. And it's just a really natural way to enter into a conversation.
Rachel Moore: Well, Will that, that Katie just basically served up the perfect segue over to you for this. Let's do talk about Klik Smart Badge. How does that technology remove the barriers? Like, I'm actually picturing now like someone just walking around the room, just holding it out in front of them to the length of their lanyard and being like, okay, first, this is first and do it.
But as you're demonstrating, but How does Klik Smart Badge remove the barriers and encourage organic connections for any type of human? Do tell.
Will Curran: Well, I think like, to Katie's exact point, there's a little bit of a dopamine release when you Klik it 'cause it literally lights up.
And then when you actually connect with somebody by Kliking your badges together and trading that contact information, it gets you all excited. And so what I find is like at every single Klik event we've ever done, when people basically have it, they tend to go up to each other and be like, Hey, let's Klik.
And I find that's really powerful because, and then it turns it into this kind of [00:22:00] natural part of the event fabric, as you talked about.
It actually totally changes the networking experience of what's happening because now people are totally like, okay, going up to each other because they have this very easy icebreaker of let's Klik together. And I think that's one reason why that we, you know, doing the studies of all of our events compared to traditional badges found that it increased networking by 250% is because it's just so fun and easy to do.
And you get this tactile feedback. I don't know, it's just like. Shouts to Charles for such an amazing product design for sure.
Rachel Moore: We'll be right back with more event experience after the break.
Ever wished your event badge did more than just display your name? Whether you're an event organizer, exhibitor, or attendee, Bizzabo's Klik Smart Badge transforms the event experience. From interactive networking to real time attendee insights and lead capture, the Smart Badge is the ultimate game changer. Visit bizzabo.com/click, that's B I Z Z A B O dot com forward slash K L I K to learn more about the next generation of wearable event [00:23:00] technology. Bizzabo, your partner for building conferences that captivate.
We are back as we discuss how accessibility figures into event networking efforts.
Accessibility. We are gonna have attendees too, who Hey, I've got a special situation, or a special way. Or a style or a condition or something like that, that networking inherently becomes more difficult or more of a challenge. How do we make that work for, to be totally inclusive in our networking?
Will Curran: I mean, like, obviously, you know, I can't speak on behalf of people like whose experiences are different than my own.
So I'll speak from my own personal experience primarily to start off with a very simple example. I think most also people will agree with, like a lot of times when I'm networking with other people as you're having that conversation with 'em, you're gonna have this like light bulb moment where you realize, Hey, I really, we need to stay connected beyond this event.
I need your contact information. Right. And what I found is traditionally when you have a, a traditional badge or a traditional event without Klik, you end up going, okay, well let's trade business cards. Well, no one does that anymore. I don't literally, I don't know anyone who has business cards anymore.
So that's kind out of the way. Right. And then it's usually we lead towards our phone. And I think, like for me, as somebody who gets distracted very easily. And you know, the second I pull, like a lot of times I wanna immerse myself in an [00:24:00] event, so I'm going hours without ever looking at my phone.
And what I find is that if I do that, then when I go to do that networking and trade contact information, whatever, a, let me look you up on LinkedIn, let's get, write down your email address, whatever it may be. By then, I'm seeing all these notifications and my mind is starting to drift. It's racing in other directions and things like that.
Probably has a little bit to do with my ADD, but I think it's also just the distract age that we're in these days that like, you know, you see a text message from your mom saying, call me. You're thinking about that. Yeah. Not what were we talking about? And it doesn't allow you to really be immersed within that conversation.
And I think really actually have a quality networking conversation because now you're getting distracted by your phone.
Rachel Moore: Yeah. Katie or Haley, thoughts about that with the accessibility aspect of networking.
Katie Noe: For me just to add onto it, it sometimes goes back to the physicality of networking as well, where I don't know if anyone in the audience has done this, but you go in for a handshake and then it becomes awkward or someone's a hugger.
I think what's really nice about Klik is that [00:25:00] you can have that way to connect without having that awkward physicality, because again, the rules are set, the organizers have set the rules of the game, so it's clear to understand what you're supposed to do in those situations.
Rachel Moore: Haley, how about you?
Haley Guerin: Yeah, I'll bring up a simple one. So, we're blessed that our venue spaces are located on multiple floors. So I often see introverts. Our elevators kind of run a unique system where you have to push your floor and then choose the elevator it's telling you to go to. And oftentimes I just see people in like very intently listening to the conversations in the elevator that maybe two extroverts are having meeting each other.
And then they jump in. And that happens a lot at other small micro moments too. Sometimes it happens at check-in, sometimes it happens when you're grabbing a meal. So we build in like a lot of those small touch points so people can kind of hear the cool conversations that other people are having and then feel a little bit less you know, [00:26:00] scared to Yeah.
Involve yourself in that conversation.
Rachel Moore: Love that. Yeah. And with all these things it's, you know, it's about. In the moment. Keep you in the moment, lower the barriers, make it easy for people and as Katie you said, set the rules so everybody understands them and they're easy and everybody can do it, and it's awesome.
Awesome segment there, everybody. So thank you for that. You know, coming off of all our various introvert and extrovertedness and answering about that inclusivity and how that tech and the intentionality can help, let's next get down to the business of networking and ask the question all executives are asking event professionals. That's right.
ROI and networking. What is our event networking doing for the business? You know, they talk to each other frequently and they walk hand in hand for end experiences. And we have to be reporting on this. There has to be an end result, an end game that the execs and also us as event planners can build off of.
So, Katie, going to you first for this one. How can event planners measure the success of [00:27:00] networking at their events? Is there tech involved and how can they use it to measure that math of that human connection we're trying to build?
Katie Noe: Yeah, absolutely. There is tech involved. I'm sure this is not a surprise because now we have all these ways to collect data that not only benefits just the attendees, but also the organizers too.
So it's a win-win. I'm a big fan of mixing the qualitative and the quantitative data. I think that's equally powerful. And so again, a lot of my examples are from our latest Bizzabo networking launch. So One of those quantitative things you can measure is the number of connections made. You can track the number of chats sent, the total number of meeting invites, accepted versus sent, or even like the most requested people to meet with.
You can see who's winning the popularity contest at your event. So, at the contact level, we actually had a partner who had multiple types of attendee groups that came to their event every year, and they sort of had this hypothesis about [00:28:00] who was meeting with who, but after the event they were able to use that networking data to actually gut check which groups of people were actually setting up meetings with each other.
And that allowed them to make sure they had the right mix of people at the next year's event. It also extended to their rest of their marketing strategy because it gave them really powerful data about their ICP groups, right? Who was talking to who and the types of things that they cared about. And then, you know, networking also happens off platform in these in-person events.
So you can't perfectly track everything. And this is where, you know, that qualitative data comes in. So maybe after a heavy networking day, you add a survey to your mobile app or a poll and say, Hey, how many people did you meet with today? Were those meetings successful? Would you meet with people like them again?
And that's data that you can take to sort of back up what you can track in app and bring that to your team to prove the value of networking top to bottom. [00:29:00]
Rachel Moore: Absolutely. I love that you emphasize there's not just quantitative data, but there's also the vibes, you know, you wanna, the vibes matter, you know, how the sentiment, how people are feeling about it.
Will, I'm gonna take this next one to you. Can you share with us some real world examples of when networking has gone right.
And possibly even amazingly?
Will Curran: Yes, I definitely can. I think examples of when I've seen networking go really well is when you make it where it's more natural for people to want to actually meet with each other on a friendly level rather than just a sales relationship.
Let's be honest, no one wants to be sold to, but everybody wants to be friends, right? And I think that you have to design from, you know, on the experience design level. To talk about how do you make it where people actually feel comfortable walking up to people, and especially walking up to vendors because let's be honest, like when you go into an event and you know you're gonna be sold to, you're not gonna, you see a vendor tag or you know, that person's a vendor or an exhibitor or whatever, it's, [00:30:00] you're gonna like walk the opposite direction.
So I think there's some, been some really great examples of this where they've create no selling environments and in net the selling just naturally happens because people are adding value to each other. So I think starting with that value add portion of it. On the other side, I think on the side that's gone really poorly.
I think a lot of ways being able to not monitor, you know, the metrics in which people are messaging. If you see, for example, there's a couple people that are like at the top of that like messaging leaderboard and in it's a significant number different than everybody else. Like say you see someone message a thousand people and the next closest two people are is like a hundred people have been messaged.
You might wonder a is something kind of nefarious happening. And I will say the thing that I hate the most at an event is when people just start messaging me saying like, come to my booth, come check this out. Do all these things like that. You know, just send me a message and say hi, and I'll recognize your name and your company and then maybe I'll see you when I walk by.
Like, start with that aspect. Don't be like selling to me to try to come to your booth. I think that's probably one of the biggest disaster stories that [00:31:00] happens. And I think sometimes organizers don't really monitor that and then enforce it by messaging those people and saying, Hey. You know, maybe this isn't the right selling technique.
And this is the part that stinks as an organizer because we are so used to you know, being event people that sometimes we're like, you know, we don't want to tell people how to sell and market their business, but in reality, like you have to protect the culture of your event and protect your attendees.
Otherwise they're gonna not enjoy this experience and feel like they're being sold to and spam to, and guess what, they're not gonna come back.
Rachel Moore: Yeah, absolutely. And Katie is gonna go back to what you were talking about. Set the rules, you know, and, you know, Will, like you said, enforce it too. Just be like, Hey we have a culture here to protect with how we want people to enjoy this takeaway. This is actually perfectly lobbying up the question I have for you, Haley.
We have set the stage today with talking about interaction styles and psychology of networking and the tech that can support the networking. Let's come full circle and apply what we've discussed to strategy. How can event planners ensure that the networking is not the worst takeaway from the whole experience, and instead make sure that it's the [00:32:00] reason people keep coming back to that event.
Haley Guerin: Yes. So, yes, networking has to work for an event for sponsors, for attendees for vendors to Will's point. And what that means is what we're all kind of focusing on here, which is one of our values is engineering serendipity. But it's not enough on its own obviously to assume that networking will just happen.
So my team leans in to actually a few points on real psychology to make connection intentional and repeatable. One of those is called the mere exposure effect, which means that people build trust and comfort simply by seeing each other multiple times. So we layer touch points like the other kind of including other ecosystem partners that I mentioned that are similar and doing the work that Capital Factory does.
But we also make sure they're a part of the programming process because there will always be sessions and panels and keynotes as a part of our events. So we include them in that [00:33:00] thought leadership and everyone wants to see their friends on stage. So that's one way we do it. Nice. Another way is we overlap session tracks.
And of course we end with those more extroverted, casual reen encounters at happy hours. And then we also identify something called cognitive load theory, which is when people are overwhelmed with options, they shut down or they clinging to what they already know. So we curate clear net, those clear networking paths.
So that includes interest based meetups in the mornings things like Cup of Capital where investors and founders are in a contained space to meet each other and find their next big check. It's also included in something we do called Investor Office Hours. So we have those contained environments.
Usually those pre-match introductions are like after keynotes after, so we have all the big crowds or right before meal times in segmented venue spaces close to those stages. And then we also have our venues delineate, you know, clear theater and clear close [00:34:00] reception areas for networking or chatting with speakers, post session or other attendees.
Nice. And then, like I mentioned earlier we're very blessed that we have venues on multiple floors. So we have those elevator conversations. We always have lunch in a far away space, so we have a lot of walk and talk time in between each of our venues. And then when those pads are clear, then people feel like they can belong with what we're trying to accomplish at the event.
And that shared group identity just builds trust faster. Yeah, so even prior to the event, something I recommend is from a marketing perspective, like send community specific invitations nice. Instead of just blast to try to get attendance. And then also highlighting each of your audience personas on stage.
So when you have a panel. You have the founder, you have the investor you may have that media influencer, that military leader, however that looks. And for us, that hodgepodge is really fun and unique to us. But you highlight that persona so it carries on into the other [00:35:00] venue spaces. And then we also utilize really strong MCs to connect audience members together when those sessions are happening.
So it feels like we'll fit a prolonged networking, not just not just watching people on stage.
And yeah, so that way, you know, you, when you attend a Capital Factory event, or hopefully in any event, you meet someone who changed your thinking or they changed their business and then they come back to more events and they just bring others with them that continue to grow that conversation and ecosystem.
Rachel Moore: Wow. That, yeah, seriously, round of applause that you offered so much psychology in that answer too. But I'm also, and I don't know if anyone else feels this way. Next time I get in an elevator, I'm gonna think of you, Haley, because I'm gonna be like, this is, they planned this. Oh, I appreciate it. They wanted me to get in this elevator.
Haley Guerin: Look, elevators and long walks between venues, you would think that they're a hindrance and they're not like having that separation and time to talk is actually like really simple and easy to get outcomes from. So.
Rachel Moore: Next thing I'm gonna see though, at events [00:36:00] and this is not a bad thing. I think it's just like little, Okay.
Conversational prompts. You know that last 30 to 45 seconds, the time it takes for you to get to that floor. Yeah. But love it. Love it. This has been, you put
Haley Guerin: inside of the elevators like stickers,
Rachel Moore: like surprise to me. Hey. Hey. And everybody, you can take that idea. Go run. Yeah, go do it. That's awesome.
Alright. This has been fabulous. Let's bring Oren back on stage as well because we need him here for this. What are the most meaningful KPIs that y'all use for tracking networking success? Anybody wanna chime in with that one?
Will Curran: I can jump in. I would say for me it would be the number of networking for my first time attendees to really understand did they meet a lot of new people? Versus, you know, the people that have been going for years like that they're gonna obviously know a bunch of people and be connecting with a lot of people.
I'd be curious to know like what my sponsors and how they're networking as well. So like which sponsors are getting the most amount of networking. Is there a sponsor that's maybe new or smaller? Are they getting the leads? Is the biggest sponsor getting them a ton of networking in as well.
And then I'd also be curious to see like when people are networking and where and I think that's one of the really cool [00:37:00] things that Qlik has the ability to do is to tell you where people are networking and when they're networking. So then that way I can invest more in those areas and less in other areas.
And I'm gonna tell you right now, it's not the happy hours.
Oren Berkovich: I mean, I'm biased a little bit, but for me it's, I very much care about interaction. So, you know, you can measure how many squeeze balls you're giving people if they approach your booth or free pens, which great, you know, but the reality is, unless your company does squeeze balls, it's probably just like a gimmick that is trying to get people to approach your booth.
I think a kind of better way, or maybe more impactful way of measuring how many people are truly approached and had interesting conversation is to offer something that is interactive. So you're giving people a way to continue the conversation. You're giving people an excuse or a reason or a way if they're introverts.
We talked about that a little bit to engage in conversation that doesn't feel like. You know, awkward to approach somebody they don't know. So from my experience, things that [00:38:00] enable people to touch and feel and interact naturally, get people to gather and to have a conversation. And then oftentimes, whether it's digital, like we talked a lot about Klik, or whether it's tactile and physical you know, trajectory for us, like we use a lot of things like ping pong balls or yarn or other ways to create that tactile interaction that can be tracked, that can be measured.
And it creates this network effect where the more people do it, the more visual it becomes, the more visual it becomes, more people gather. And when you see a lot of people gather around something, I'm like, okay, so clearly there's a lot of new connections being made here.
Haley Guerin: We mostly just track one-on-one meetings because that's what's important for our founders deal flow which Bizzabo just shout out helps a lot with now especially on the networking function. So I just wanted to shout that out.
Rachel Moore: We'll always take a shout out. We love that. What are some interesting ways any of you have managed networking in a hybrid event setting? So, for example, an internal global event for an organization's global marketing team.
[00:39:00] Half the people are onsite, the other half are watching virtually. What does anybody have here for a solution for that? How do you do the networking meaningfully then?
Will Curran: I've been preaching this one for years, more call booths. So then that way if an attendee virtually and in person wanna talk, they don't have to leave and go back to their hotel room to have a quick zoom meeting or video call or anything like that.
My future would be a world where we can walk into the phone booth and the person just pops up automatically and we can just talk to them. But, you know, we're getting there. Oh my gosh, that would be awesome.
Oren Berkovich: Have you seen any effort to try to connect people who are there in person with people who are online through one of these phone booths or other solutions?
Will Curran: Nah, it's usually just totally forgotten. It's like the virtual attendees, the second class that send in a lot of ways. Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah.
Oren Berkovich: I would just say like, I think any effort to make, cross that path between in real life and online and try to connect people who are there physically with those who are joining online.
Again and until there is that magical technology, I mean, I think that is going to [00:40:00] be a failed attempt that will not lead to successful connection. And instead just even though it's, you know, a single event, treating it as two different communities that need different solutions to connect and emphasizing on trying to get those who are online, to find others who are online and then connect in certain ways that work really well online.
And then those who are there in person, they have way other because they're there in person and not try to have any cross connection. I haven't seen that work well, and I don't know how he will frankly.
Rachel Moore: Maybe we just have everyone carry their laptop around so they've got the person in on their camera, virtual, that's their virtual buddy, and they have to go just network around and everybody's got it.
Just that's what they do. Yeah.
Oren Berkovich: Or you've seen these robots that move around and have like an iPad attached to them and you see like a random participant that's somewhere trying to like bump into you and talk to you. Yeah. I mean, there was a time where that felt novel and now it's like, I don't know, I see it event kind of [00:41:00] trying to stay away from robot.
Rachel Moore: Now I'm just. Now I'm picturing someone that it's an iPad instead of a laptop. And when the person wants to talk, they just hold it up to their face. So now they're this person's, hey, no ideas or dumb ideas. Right?
Katie Noe: Quickly, just one more thought is that this is something that we're really trying to think about and tackle at Bizzabo and I think it speaks to having a tech that works cross platform.
So when people are there on their mobile app and when people are on their computer, it's the same interface. And so again, like I said, I'm biased, but our new networking suite is cross platform. So I'd love to talk to anyone who's doing a hybrid event. I'd love going to talk to our customers, obviously who are testing this out, and I think that could be super helpful in the future as well.
Rachel Moore: Thank you panelists for your insights. That is all the time we have for today.
Well, I just wanna extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our distinguished speakers, Oren Berkovich, Haley Guerin, Will Curran and Katie Noe. We are all so grateful for your time and knowledge and also glad we could get some of the gang back together today. Whether you're introvert, extrovert, or a bit of both thank you for being here today.
Thanks again to Oren Berkovich, Haley Guerin, Will Curran, and Katie Noe for joining us on another great [00:42:00] Bizzabo industry webinar and thank you for listening to this special version for the Event Experience podcast. If you're enjoying the show, we'd love to hear it. Connect with us on social and subscribe, rate and review us wherever you're listening.
Also, don't forget to share the show with your colleagues and friends. You can find transcripts of each episode and key takeaways on bizzabo.com/podcast. You can also partake of the full webinar experience available on demand. On behalf of the team, thank you. We'll gather again soon for a new episode of Event Experience.
