How To Make The Most Of Networking Events

Whether you're an introvert or an extrovert, these tips will help you create valuable experiences and make the most out of every event.

Learn why it's crucial to cater to attendees' physical needs with room for movement, regular breaks, and access to water and snacks.

Plus, find out how to maximize your event experience with strategies for everything from planning ahead and following up!

Resources Mentioned:
- Narrowing Focus, Amplifying Impact: Chris Do on the Art of Branding

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• Not Nice Clever
• Candice Carcioppolo
• Kat Torre

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Chapters

• 0:00 Sharing Spicy Takes On In-Person Networking Events
• 2:28 How organizers can use pre- and post-event surveys to improve your events
• 6:17 Providing options to allow attendees to take control of their experience
• 8:48 Providing options to allow attendees to take control of their experience
• 13:24 Schedule breaks every sixty to ninety minutes
• 15:32 Tips For Attendees
• 19:22 How Attendees Can Use Events To Build Their Personal Brands
• 20:00 Attendees should set clear goals
• 23:20 Building meaningful connections instead of just passing out your business card.

Transcript

(Episode preview) We are talking about events.  

My God, please stop passing out your business card to everyone. 

Bro, no. 

I'm talking about that person with the stack that's just like going to every human and dropping off a card. 

You you start to get fatigued, you start to like zone out, your eyes go a little blurry.

Should we do a Not Nice Clever event sometime? 

(Intro) Hi, I'm Kat, marketer turned brand storyteller. And I'm Candice, educator turned entrepreneur. And you're listening to Not Nice Clever. As CEOs and leaders, it's your job to always have the answers. But sometimes you need a little help. Leverage, if you will.

We get it. This is the place for you. wherever you're listening, 5 .30 AM club at the gym on your way to your next meeting or putting out today's fire, let's get into it. In today's episode of Not Nice Clever, we are talking about events, specifically in -person events. So whether you are an organizer of events, an attendee of events, even somebody who markets events for other people, right? There are event agencies out there.

This is for you because we want to level set and remind you that events are attended by human beings that have physical needs and that in order to put on the most incredible event possible, need to remember that it's being attended by humans. So Candice has some spicy takes, some lovely takes that we want to share. Let's talk a little bit about events and how they're organized. Yeah. So

 (02:08.782)
As someone who hosted, I used to host events with my organization. I used to lead them for teachers. So about 200 teachers would attend the events. And there were consistent conversations around making every event better. And one of the things that we would do is definitely give out a survey at the end of the event. And we would also send a survey prior to the event. Oh, pre -survey. Yes, a pre -survey.

Okay. And like, what are you hoping to get from this event? What topics are you most interested in? What are you currently struggling with in your classroom at the time, but in your business, maybe perhaps? And so something like that, sending out those things that way, it's just like brand building. We're using the words of the people, the attendees. Mirroring. We're mirroring. And then when we're on stage, we're like, this is

87 people said that this was one of the biggest struggles in their business, or 117 of you voted as this one as the top topic and we took that seriously. And now people in the audience feel seen, heard, and valued because they know that the reason you've created this whole experience is with them in mind, with their specific needs and goals and wants. That makes people feel seen. What that means is you're set up for success in that event.

because they feel like you are providing a curated experience to meet them exactly where they are. And even if you met them 80 % of the way, they are still so happy because that's more than any event that they've ever attended because no one's asking them what they want or need or who they want to see. So that's something that I think was really important. And then the survey at the end and then being transparent about with the survey at the end. So sending out like a recap of the survey.

Hey, this is what people liked. This is what they didn't like. This is how we're moving forward. So that at this next event that you're coming to, we're taking these things into consideration. Thank you so much for your feedback. We're always learning and growing and we want to provide you an amazing experience. And then people just feel like you're on their side. You're listening. You're not just listening for a show. You're listening for real. And you're not just telling them too that we're here for you. This community is yours. You're a part of it. You are showing them. Yes. Peek behind the curtain.

 (04:28.428)
This is what you and a lot of other attendees were saying. We hear you. We're not ashamed of it. We appreciate that you shared this so that we can make it all that better for the next time. Because it's not about the egos of the organizers or the guesswork of what they think people want. It's actually what people are asking for. And there may be a little bit of vegetables of what they need, too. Yeah, of course. You're always thinking the vegetables. But then...

Then it was things like just human needs, right? Okay, can a person sit in a seat for two hours at a time? Does that make sense? Should we ask that of someone? Probably not. When are the bathroom breaks? Is the lunch break long enough? Do they have to walk to lunch? Do they have to buy lunch on their own? Is that gonna take more time than if they were sitting down in a hall eating lunch together? Like just thinking through the day to make sure that it is aligned because a lot of times as an event host, you feel pressured to provide value.

And you think that more programming equals more value. But the reality of it is listening to your audience, listening to the people there, making them feel seen, heard and valued equals more value for them. And allowing them to make new connections and forge new relationships, strengthen the relationships. Because, right, isn't that a human thing where Candace, whoever introduced the two of us, actually it was Ryan Serhant. I will always hold Ryan in high regard.

for founding a company that allowed you and I to meet. Yeah. Right. And all he had to do was create the opportunity for us to meet. Yes. That's a form of value that I think is so lost sometimes on organizers. I totally agree. And the next thing is I studied adult facilitation for a period of time because adults learn differently than students. And I was transitioning from teaching kids to teaching adults. Yeah.

when I was studying adult facilitation, one of the biggest components is that people need choice. They need autonomy. So in your day, if you're providing an event in your day, there needs to be some component that they've chosen. Now we've already kind of addressed that with the survey because maybe we have themes and topics, so they do have some input there. It felt like they co -created some of that. Yeah. Yes. But how do you get even more specific?

 (06:47.48)
Well, getting even more specific can look like providing three breakout workshops and the people get to choose the one that aligns most with where they're at at their business. So there's one about business budgeting. There's one about AI in your business. And then there's one about social media marketing. You go to the one that you are struggling with the most right now. And if you're still interested in those others, don't worry. We're going to send you the notes from that. We'll send you the recording of the session so you can catch

the next week. We will send you the speaker's names. You can follow them on Instagram and see what type of content that they provide. Bless you. Thank you, Candice. I just sneezed on camera, guys. You can't hear it if you're listening to the audio version. But just giving them access to that information in some way. You might be like, my gosh, we know you miss Kat and Candice because you went to the other...

workshop, no worries. Here's the link to their podcast. You can hear what they're all about. You can learn from them in that manner. Right. And so people think like, but if I don't give them everything, they're going to be upset. And if you give them too much, they're not going to digest anything. And then it's just going to slide out of their minds and not get stored in long -term memory and not get implemented. And that's really at the end of the

That's what you What you want as the event host and organizer, you want people to build relationships and you want people to feel like they walked away with something actionable, something that they feel like they can implement and that will actually change their life or their business in whatever way. Yes. Those are just some tips as someone who's hosted events. Now, I haven't hosted an event for a long time. I don't know when we're going to get back to that. Should we do a not nice clever event sometime? If you send us some DMs, guys, let's convince us

You want that? Let us know. This is the pre -survey survey. There we go. Pre -survey survey. I love it. Okay. A couple things, because like you said, you want to make it actionable. From my perspective as an introvert, and Candice, we both are introverts. For me, when I attend events, I can't sit for longer than maybe an hour and 15 minutes. That's like my, an hour I'm okay, hour and a half too long. But like hour 15 for me is the sweet spot. Is that what you found too when you

 (09:11.962)
learning about adult facilitation? I don't remember the exact number, but I want to say it's less than an hour. It's like less than an hour. it is less than It's less than an hour. And you can have a session for an hour. You just need to make sure that humans can get up or interact. So I recently went to an event and Chris Doe was leading a session and he said, okay, you're going to stand up and you're going to meet three people and I'm going to time this. So there was forced interaction with three people around

And he gave us like some question prompts that we needed to. Like he makes you talk to strangers. Yes, but it wasn't scary because Christo is an introvert. We'll actually link his episodes. You can like listen to his episode here. But Christo is an introvert and know, Kat and I are introverts. And because he gave you a framework, it wasn't scary because I knew what I was going to do with that stranger. Right. And I ended up meeting a woman named Stephanie. She's super cool. I'll probably work with her. She's like my exact right client.

and I wouldn't have had I not stood up in the middle of a session and spent 60 seconds literally with Stephanie. And so now we've gotten up, I've met three people, I've sat back down and I can go again. It's fine. Okay. So it kind of like is hitting the reset button and double value too, because it's not just the content of what Christo is delivering, which is always straight hot fire flames.

But it's the fact that now, if and when Stephanie decides to work with you, you decide to work with Stephanie, the value of that consulting and coaching relationship, you're going to attribute in your mind to Chris because without him allowing that opportunity, maybe it would have happened, but you can trace a direct line of ROI to that session, which is huge. So I just went to chat GPT. you Googling it? Yeah, chat GPTing it. And adults can generally sit comfortably in a conference for 60 to 90 minutes.

at a stretch before needing a break, but this can vary depending on several factors. Seating quality, session engagement, individual differences, break frequency. It says regular breaks every 60 to 90 minutes help maintain comfort and concentration. Then it's a room environment. Like what's the temperature like? What's the lighting like? And all of those things need to be taken into consideration. Like, I don't know if I've ever told you this, Kat, but the introvert in me can't handle being

 (11:34.376)
a room with no windows for long periods of time? no, me either. I just want to go to sleep. I can't. It's like my cave, I shut down. Okay. Can't do it. Or I just like need to get out of here. And one time when I was taking like one of those tests that you need to take to become a teacher, I can't remember the name it right now, but I deleted it. Yeah. So I went to like, I had to go to this random high school and I had to this test. It's like super official. And I walked into this room and I was

Oh, hell no. I'm not spending three hours in this room. There's like no windows. It's just like terrible. was like, feel like trapped. gosh. Costrophobic almost. Yeah. so 30 minutes in, I was like, I will take this test in a new location somewhere else where like I have a better environment. I don't care. I'm just going to like pay the hundred dollars and do it again. And so I just filled out the rest of the test and I knew I just like failed it. Whatever. I left. I passed, which means like that's wild. I became a teacher on that failed test that I just filled

I don't know. Well, wait, I'm sorry. I'm okay. Okay. Two things, two things from that moment that I just want to like hit pause for a sec. you failed a test without giving a fuck because you weren't in your optimal environment. You knew you retake it, but you still took the F cause you were like, well, know what? No, no, I thought I was going to fail it. Cause I filled out the whole thing. But then the second part of it, first you failed without giving a fuck. You thought you were going to fail that. Yeah. And then the second part you pass anyway.

It has anyway. crazy. I was like, are those tests? We like, I know. You need like 65 % to pass or something. I don't know. I was a long time ago, so things might've changed. Yes. Windows. I mean, I don't know if that's the introvertedness or just the California girl in us. Like, guess I do. need some sunshine. I can't take gray skies. None of that. I can't take dark. Um, okay. But look, so I had GPT this and then it says tips for conference organizers. Okay. As a separate section.

So, oh, these are good too. Schedule a regular break, plan for breaks every 60 to 90 minutes to allow attendees to stretch, move around, refresh. I'm gonna insert go to the restroom, duh. Provide comfortable seating. Encourage movement. So incorporate short activities or interactive elements that require standing and moving around the room. That's key, please. That's why I love to host workshops, Kat.

 (14:02.232)
because I want people to interact with one another, try something, feel like something's hard, have their friends say, no, you've got this, try again. Like that's how people learn and not just by sitting and getting. The other one is optimize the environment. So lighting, ventilation, temperature, and then provide water and healthy snacks to keep energy levels up, which also snacks vital.

We need the snacks. Proper bio breaks, right? Bathroom breaks. Lunch breaks, please. At least an hour. Oh my gosh. Please. When our bodies naturally crash in the afternoon, which is usually when I fit in a little siesta, make it an hour 15. I think an hour 15 is good because you got to account for travel time, order time, chit chat, catch up. Oh my gosh, how have you been, Candace? Time. And then to actually eat too.

And there's some other factors like does this group of people regularly spend time together? So if they already working in an office together and they're just at a conference together, maybe the lunch doesn't need to be an hour and a half because they see each other regularly. But if people are flying in from all over the country or perhaps all over the world, they only have seen each other on Zoom or Instagram, like they're excited to see each other. So they need a longer lunch. You just have to pay attention to who's being invited and how they're connected.

because that will help you to inform the length as well. Then there's tips for attendees here. Okay, share those because I know we've talked a lot about the organizer POV, but attendee POV. Attendees, don't be afraid to do you. So you got to go to the bathroom, go to the bathroom. Stand up in the back of the room, that's okay. You need to take some steps, no big deal. You still have autonomy, you don't have to feel like a prisoner or hostage in your

You're paying to be there. You're paying to be there. Make It is your time, your investment. Yeah. Yeah. You don't have to disturb people, but you can take care of yourself. of Yes. Yep. Drink water throughout the day. Make sure you're hydrated and alert. It says adjust your seating position, which I also think is really important. If you don't have to sit in the same seat all day long, like if the morning session, you're in the front, great. In the evening session, afternoon session, you're somewhere else. Like just being in a different part of the room

 (16:25.176)
change up your experience for you and maybe even meet different people because you're sitting in a different area. And then it says, take notes, ask questions, and participate to stay mentally engaged and reduce your own discomfort. I think all of these are great. think another hack that I came up with, which I think I learned it from watching a TV episode. again, TV and Netflix has ROI. It was when I was like pulling all nighters when I was in nursing school

you start to get fatigued, you start to zone out, your eyes go a little blurry and you're just like, oh my gosh, I want to focus. I think we've all had those moments when we're sitting through a lecture or on Zoom or at an event, excusing yourself from the space, going maybe up to your hotel room or even into the bathroom or a little side hallway area and doing 30 body weight squats will immediately - it out. It's squatted out. Well, I mean not.

 (17:23.65)
Not in that way. Just get your blood flowing. Get your blood flowing because bodyweight squats are the easiest low lift workout that literally circulates your blood throughout your entire body. So just do 30 of those, come back, sit in a different spot and honestly, posture too. I feel like holding better posture helps me not get those cricks in my neck or my lower back or because...

know, you turn 33 and apparently like should just start falling apart. don't know. You tell me about this, Candace. I'm sorry. I don't want to tell you because I don't want to scare you. Just keep going about this. Don't scare me. Just give me support as I age along the way. But yeah, bodyweight squats. I love that. Also, don't feel bad if you're the only one getting up. I think this is sometimes what keeps me from getting up where I'm just like, I'm like, nobody else is doing it. I'm to be a jackass if I'm that one person leaving. Do

It's not being rude because you're standing. There's nothing rude about that. Because imagine, imagine, and this is something I want to say because I don't think a lot of people know, but Candace, you and I, when we do keynotes or when we do workshops, there is a shit ton of prep that goes into it because we want you to, we want to make an impact. We want you to walk away with something that's going to help you, change you, help you grow, challenge you. We can't do

If all you're thinking about when we're talking on stage is that you have to really use the fucking bathroom. So please go use the bathroom. the 90 seconds, come back and then be like refreshed so you can actually engage. Just wanted to offer that point of view. Totally. I do want to dive more into as an attendee of an event, kind of going back to one of our pillars. know our pillars are branding, marketing, money and manifesting, right? So let's go back to the branding.

Okay. If you're an event attendee, you've chosen to go to this event because you know that you are going to connect with people who you can learn from, people who you could potentially collaborate with, and so you're excited about going to this event. How can you use this as an opportunity to build your own personal brand? And I think people forget about that. They go...

(19:42.388)
and they want to learn from the speakers and maybe there's famous people there and they're excited about that, that they forget that they could actually leverage this experience to build their own brand. And so I have a list here, of course, Kat and I made our own list and then we cross referenced it to chat GPT, duh. And so there's definitely things here. Like number one is set clear goals.

Is there something specific that you want to learn or take away from this event? Is it something that you think you're going to learn from a specific speaker? Great, note that. Is it that you just want to connect with people you can possibly collaborate with in the future? Great, note that. You can have a lot of different reasons for attending the event, but just be clear on what your reasons are so that you don't get lost when you get there and just

shuffle is happening and you forget why you attended in the first place. Or you say yes to everything. Yeah. And you don't. Yes. And then you're overwhelmed and you didn't actually get what you want in the end because And then it doesn't feel like a success. Yeah. Exactly. The next one is do your homework. So figure out who's going to be there if there's someone you're particularly excited about seeing. I know this is a scary one, but you can shoot them a DM. Hey, Gary Vee. I'm so excited to see you out forward on Friday. Can't wait to be there. Yeah.

That's fine. You can shoot anyone a DM. Yes. And by the way, how many times has Gary said, and Ryan has even confirmed this, we can confirm this, like Ryan Serhant, Gary Vee. between the two of them, have like 12 million followers on Instagram. They still answer their own DMs. They don't outsource that. And one day we will have Gary Vee on this podcast because we will have started a DM relationship building conversation on Instagram. We can't tell you how many of our guests have come

Relentlessly DMing them. Unapologetically. Another tip I want to add on to that one that I actually employed after this most recent conference that I spoke at, but honestly also just attended and soaked up and learned a lot too, is to find the speakers on LinkedIn and connect with them there and send them a message letting them know, hey,

(21:54.07)
I'm so excited that you're going to be speaking at this conference. I'm going to be there. It's my first time attending. I really admire your work in XYZ and I look forward to learning more from you. If they're normal, non -sociopathic human beings, a message like that goes a long way. I had somebody reach out from HousingWire ahead of the event that I was speaking at, be like, hey Kat, I'm excited to meet you and learn from you at the event. I saw that you're on the speakers list. And I was like, I was like, here's a new strategy, right? And it's easy.

And then at the end of the event, say, my gosh, Gary, this was so great. Those three tips you gave me about this implementing those tomorrow. And then as a speaker, there's no better way you can thank me than saying you're going to use something. Something impacted you. made a difference in your life and your business. You send me that thank you note. I'm like, okay, I'm ready for the next six months. I'm good. I'm like, yeah, I'm just so excited. Crying seriously. No matter

what level the speaker at, they want to hear those affirmations. That desire never goes away. Guys, the speakers that you see at events does not matter how big their social following is, how many millions or billions are in their net worth, does not matter. They're still humans and humans fundamentally want to be seen, heard, and understood. And if you can see them and value what they have to offer and mirror that back to them, just the guy. It's the guy.

This one is my favorite. says network strategically. And the actual description says focus on building a few meaningful connections rather than passing out your business card. My God, please stop passing out your business card to everyone. That's going to do nothing for you. Only if they ask for it. And honestly, I passed out three.

when I was at a conference in Dallas. I'm just saying, I'm talking about that person with the stack that's just like going to every human and dropping off a card. no, no. I'd rather get your email. I'd rather get your phone number. I'd rather connect with you on Instagram or LinkedIn. Like let's vibe there. talk first and then see if it makes sense for us to even exchange information. To connect. Yeah. Okay. Any other tips from the wise old Chad GPT?

 (24:07.498)
Yes, it says attend relevant sessions, which I think we talked about. So pick the ones that are most relevant to you in your business, which is why it's important for event organizers to let you know what the schedule is. Yes. Huge. Do have an idea? I did. Okay. So she saw my face. If you guys are watching the video, you see my reaction. I... Okay. Quick little itty bitty baby tangent. I saw a reel on my explore page the other day.

And it was like, when I have to remind my wife that her face has subtitles. That's Dom all the time. Dude. Yeah. Me and Candace, our face comes with subtitles. The thought that I had had when you brought that back up, speaking to organizers, is, you know, let's take it back to like really simple analogies. Framing it like that, giving people the autonomy to choose, but then not letting them see everything keeps them wanting more, right? Coming back for more so that you get

engagement post -event, not just in that one spike of engagement at the event itself. Totally. The next one says, be open and approachable. I think that they made that one for me because as an introvert, I could also suffer from RBF, which makes it challenging sometimes. Maybe we'll just need to get you a name tag that says, excuse the RBF, my name's Candace. Yeah, I'm not that bad. No, you're not.

I know, I'm just giving you shit. No, no, I'm going to add that to the shirt. We should get shirts like that. Be like, it's not RBF, it's called being an introvert. Yeah. And then it says leverage workshops and breakout sessions, like the smaller interactive sessions are great for going deeper and building opportunities with the humans in that room, not just the speaker or the leader. And then it says follow up, send personalized follow up emails, send personalized follow up

Like tell the people what you got and that's just so important. All of these things are contributing to you building your brand because if someone feels like you have seen them, appreciate their work, they're gonna remember you. And the next time your industry thing comes up in their world, they might say your name because you've thanked them publicly and privately and you've shared what you've learned from them. They're gonna remember you.

 (26:26.99)
And that is so, so key. And then lastly, it's a stay in touch, which I think we often forget to do. Put a reminder in your calendar, be like, don't forget to reach out to so -and -so on this date, put it in your CRM. Follow up with people. You'd be surprised how many people want to follow up with you but aren't doing it. And if you follow up with them, they're just like, thank goodness. you. Yeah.

So one tip that I employed, think for the first time, which I was pretty proud of myself, and I don't think I've told you this yet. So it was when I was at that conference in Dallas for Thousand Watt, it was a completely new community for me to be a part of. Like I had not attended one of their events before. I had only just recently kind of been introduced to them as an agency and I was speaking there. And so I knew that because I was speaking there, I was going to be incognito the first day because nobody knew who I was. And our dear friend,

and client Richard McDonough was there and he was like, he's like, let's hang out before everybody knows who you are. And I'm like, okay, Richard. So we did that the first day. And then after I spoke the second day and into the third, so many people were coming up to me, which was great, but I was not gonna remember them. So Candace would be so proud. In between people coming up to me or me approaching certain people to like have conversations, I kept a note on my phone where I jotted down their first name.

couple notes about them, any potential follow up if they said that they needed help with something like I could give them a resource or refer a podcast or this or that. By the end of the event, y 'all, I had 32 notes with enough context to be able to like easily send a follow up message. And it took me like, I type really fast, like 12 seconds, 15 seconds in between these moments to jot down that instead of just thinking or praying I was going to remember all of it, which

was not. When I went back to review those notes, I was like, my gosh, that's right. Mark Crumvale did do that and saw this and da, da, da, da, da. And you would have never remembered. Bro, no, I would not have. so much input. It's so much input. So use that tip. It's like a follow -up note. And you don't need a Russian novel's worth of information about them, but just enough to give context to the follow -up. So we've hoped you've enjoyed.

 (28:44.716)
this episode of Not Nice Clever where we broke down events as organizers and attendees. And let us know if you're interested in Not Nice Clever events in the near future. Drop us a DM. Thanks for joining us on Not Nice Clever. Remember to follow Not Nice Clever wherever you listen to audio. And if you haven't already, drop that five star review, share your takeaways, tell us your story. We love to hear

Signing off, you're not so nice, but so clever, besties that mean business. See you soon.