Sharing what we’ve learned from our cohort of 150+ associations, 12 weeks, and some good old-fashioned creativity
Over the last year, the world has been venturing into the realm of virtual interaction, itching to make meaningful connections from one screen to another. Us included – as a virtual event production company, it is our responsibility to bring communities together and use the virtual space to optimize user experience. With co-creation at the forefront of our mind, we decided to team up with our friend Amanda Kaiser with Kaiser Insights LLC in order to solve for virtual networking obstacles. We wanted to plant a garden.
Back in January, we invited 150+ associations to join a brand new, super innovative cohort created with one mission: to explore new ways of connecting people virtually. We called it our Virtual Networking Incubator, which started meeting bi-weekly in February. In our little zoom room, participants voiced obstacles they were facing in their virtual networking journeys, and more importantly, tested out new strategies of networking by networking themselves!
Pretty meta, yes, which is why it worked.
Watching the Vines Emerge
Over the course of these last three months, the incubator community has tested numerous innovative technologies and reflected on successes and drawbacks throughout the journey. We discovered some illuminating pieces of advice. Check them out:
- Preparation is key. A structured and detailed run-of-show is pivotal in making participants feel comfortable enough to open up to others.
- Creating long lasting connections is all about balancing thoroughness of planning with simplicity of execution
- What works for one event and community may not work for another. Finding your community’s sweet spot is all about reading the room and matching the tone!
Now, all of this advice is much easier said than done, especially after only having read three very general, over-simplified bullet points.
Seeing it all in Full Bloom
We invite you to join us at RESULTS: A Networking Garden Party, where we’ll be sharing, in-depth, all the findings from our twelve weeks of incubator discovery! We gather on Tuesday, May 25th from 1:00-2:00pm EDT, but make sure to log into the virtual space early. A virtual scavenger hunt will begin prior to the start of our garden party, and early participation is a must if you’re looking to win!
We’ll see you there!
