Went to a speed networking event last week and it was a mess

I went to this networking thing at a coffee shop in Buckhead last Tuesday. They gave us 3 minutes per person but the timer was broken so some people got 5 and others got 1. About half the folks just handed me their business card and checked their phone until the bell rang. I met one guy who actually listened and asked good questions about what I do. Has anyone else been to one of these and actually gotten a real connection out of it?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_smith1d ago

I read somewhere that speed networking is basically just speed dating for small business owners lol. The broken timer thing is rough though, I feel like you need at least a full 2 minutes to get past the awkward small talk and find common ground.

william_craig71d ago

Has anyone actually tried flipping that and just saying "screw it, let's skip the small talk" right off the bat? Seems like the only way to get anything real out of those 90 second rounds without ending up with a stack of useless business cards.

oliver_baker491d ago

oh totally @finley_smith, that speed dating comparison is way too accurate. i went to one of those networking mixers last month and the timer was set to like 90 seconds, which is just cruel. by the time you actually figure out what someone does for a living and find a tiny bit of common ground, the buzzer goes off and you're scrambling to wrap up. feels like you end up with a bunch of half-finished conversations and a headache instead of actual leads.