What Makes a Great Networking Event?
This NextUp event was one of the best networking events we’ve been to. We use it as the gold-standard!
Most people don’t walk into a networking event feeling relaxed. They walk in hoping they don’t end up awkwardly standing alone holding a drink while everyone else talks to people they already know. You know that feeling, and lot of networking events accidentally make that feeling worse.
You show up to these networking events because you want connection. Maybe a new idea or relationship. Maybe just one meaningful conversation. But too often, networking events become rooms full of people sticking to their comfort zones while everyone quietly wonders how they’re supposed to break in.
The reality is that good networking rarely happens by accident. It needs design and hosts who actually host. Not just people who planned the event, but people who actively help people connect once they arrive. Because the best networking events usually have a few things in common:
Name tags that make introductions easier
Assigned seating that gently mixes people up
Conversation starters or table topics
Shared activities that give people something to do together
Hosts who notice when someone is standing alone and pull them in
Those things may sound small, but they completely change the energy in a room. Without structure, networking tends to favor the loudest people, the most outgoing people, or the people who already know everyone there, and that defeats the whole point since most of us didn’t come to talk to the same people we always talk to. We came hoping to leave with something new: a new perspective, connection, opportunity, or idea.
Even if networking makes us uncomfortable, we still show up. We’re there! So let’s make the experience actually work for the people in the room.
At Springbach, we think networking events should feel less like social survival and more like intentional connection. So if you host events, think about the experience you’re creating.
And if you attend events, put it in the feedback survey.
Ask for:
facilitated introductions
table prompts
intentional seating
interactive discussions
smaller breakout groups
anything that helps people actually connect
Because networking events should be networkable. Have you been to a great networking event? We’d love to know about it!