How to create effective 1-on-1 matchmaking at business events

Imagine yourself being at an event with 300+ attendees. How do you find the right people, so potential business partners, to talk to? Usually, it is a matter of starting a conversation with a random person and hoping it will be time well spent. Are you an event organizer and do you want to organize events with more impact? Take out the scatter-gun approach in networking and facilitate effective matchmaking for your attendees, sponsors, and partners.

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1. Let attendees choose their conversation partners pre-event
Create extra value for your attendees by letting them choose their conversation partners for 1-on-1 meetings before your event takes place. If you use the Krowden (formerly NetworkTables) tool, attendees can choose which experts they would like to meet. The attendee writes a short motivation, which will be sent to the expert of their choice. The experts get to see the requests that were made and he/she can accept or decline meeting requests (no worries – declining happens in a friendly way). In this way, you ensure the meeting will be beneficial for both the attendee and the expert. And next to this, attendees have invested time in writing a motivation, which means more commitment and this increases the show rate.

2. Matchmaking based on common interests
With Krowden (formerly NetworkTables) it is possible to generate recommendations for participants in 1-on-1 meetings based on interests. When an attendee receives the invitation email for the Krowden tool from you (the event manager), he or she is invited to answer a few short questions (tailored to your event). Based on the answers, attendees get recommendations for whom to meet during the business matchmaking session. The feature for 1-on-1 meetings in Krowden (formerly NetworkTables) is widely used for startup-investor matchmaking (e.g. at StartupFest Europe and EXEC Fintech), for hosted-buyer matchmaking (e.g. HRD Summit and Provada Future), and general business matchmaking (e.g. The Next Women Summit and Eventbranche.nl).

3. A smart, personalized schedule for every attendee in two clicks
With the Krowden tool, you can generate personalized schedules for all attendees in two clicks. So the era of generating schedules manually has passed – no more Excel spreadsheets! Just two clicks and smart, personalized schedules are ready to be sent to all table hosts and attendees. This will save you hours of work! You as event manager will receive a print package (including signs for the tables, lists for hostesses, and lists for badges), which will make it very easy for you at the event location (it will be easy to manage the networking session and to fill up empty seats)!

Conclusion

Do you want to surprise your attendees with a super effective and innovative way of networking? Engage your attendees pre-event and start the networking part by letting attendees choose who they would like to meet. This will not only generate buzz around your event, but it will also save you time (no more Excel spreadsheets!) and will increase the show rate (because you have prepared and committed attendees!). Want to know more? Schedule a meeting with Matthijs Otto. He can tell you more about how you can boost your event ROI by facilitating effective business matchmaking.

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FAQ

How does the Krowden tool ensure that the meeting requests made by attendees are beneficial for both parties involved?
The Krowden tool uses advanced algorithms to match attendees based on their preferences, interests, and goals, ensuring that meeting requests are mutually beneficial for both parties involved.

Can the matchmaking feature in Krowden (formerly NetworkTables) be customized to cater to specific types of events or industries?
Yes, the matchmaking feature in Krowden (formerly NetworkTables) can be customized to cater to specific types of events or industries by adjusting the criteria used for matching attendees, such as industry, job title, interests, and more.

Are there any success stories or case studies available that showcase the effectiveness of using the Krowden tool for event networking?
Yes, there are success stories and case studies available that showcase the effectiveness of using the Krowden tool for event networking. These case studies highlight how attendees were able to make valuable connections, generate leads, and enhance their overall event experience through the use of the Krowden tool.