Now that Bangalore hosts so many events, it has become extremely important to understand few things before attending any event. If we follow some basic things while turning out for an event, we naturally get a lot more out of it. Now that I have lots of expertise moving to almost all of the events and all parts of Bangalore, I can conclude the 6 things that worked the most for me. The simplest reason to attend an event is to learn, network, express, get few things right and spend our time in a fruitful way.
1. Reach the venue 30 minutes earlier
Img Credit: Pepsi Commercial
The ideal thing is to be there before the event organizers get ready for the event. So sooner you reach, you have the first-mover advantage and its shows the keenness of your agenda for that day. You feel more confident and later you adjust with the environment and feel part of the discussion. The idea behind this is, after driving so long you got to relax a bit or ease yourself for the rest room, before you make your first presence. Similarly reaching the venue prior means that you are almost prepared for the time loss during the traffic, searching the location, or delay in the register desk. Secondly, it gives you more time where you find certain persons who are more passionate on the topic. Sometimes it’s like the early mover’s get the Special gifts and goodies (do watch out for that, and expensive ones like pen drive, Parker Pen, or a Diary, a good book, or the newsletter for the month etc, just a little funny observation)
2. Write down the purpose you are visiting
Prepare a list of things you got to watch out for in the event day, like if you have any specific mobile related queries to ask for, or to seek an expert advice, or even meeting a like-minded person who can help you solve the problem. Write down the results you are expecting out of the event. May be it may not meet your expectations, but surely it will give you the right tone to attend the event as active audience, rather than someone who just comes to listen the speeches.
3. Find out who are the speakers and organizers and what is the majority of the audience is intending to listen here
It’s hard to judge anybody if you don’t do simple research before night. Sometimes visiting LinkedIn, twitter or social profiles will give you a fair idea of who is who. Otherwise, may be you have to ask repeatedly for the same person’s identity, which depicts poor planning from your end. Similarly, it helps to frame your questions right when you know that this person has spoken about certain things in the past and have the expertise on specific technology or Sector/Industry. Constantly, the organizer and the volunteers of start up events are highly influential persons who mainly focus on building a good eco-system balancing the connection between the seeker and generators. Over a dozen of months, with little surveillance I got to know that they are very humble and are around to help you. So take your chance to know them and keep good relationship with them.
4. Don’t forget to carry your contact details and 1 min pitch
At times, when you want to make good connections the simplest thing is to carry your case of cards,clearly stating the mobile number, where do you work and specifically email id printed. An interesting observation though, nice design or funky cutting give your card an extra edge.For example, if you can make a card cut half or quarter of your size or corners like wind blades, people do recognize you as a creative person. Similarly make a 1-min quick pitch. Who are you? Where do you work, what is the purpose of visiting the event, and what you’re looking for? Easily almost all of the events give you a chance to speak for yourself. Why not make your captivating pitch? Think of the presence you can create in 1 min and prepare it well, most of the leaders believe to cut their conversation short almost to 30 sec.
5. Be prepared for networking time
If you have s smart phone, cool. Take out the sticky notes or make use of the notepad. Write down the persons who you are going to meet in the span of 10-15 minutes. Before you try to pitch, listen to them carefully why they are interested in the event what is their motto. Speak to one person at a time, it’s very easy to make a mark that you are the representative of your company and having an agenda, a purpose and intention to maximize your time. Listen to the introduction part carefully and connect to the person, identify, write down their name and make it a point to talk to them. In my observation you will not find many leads but you certainly find 2 to 3 quality leads in each Startup event.
6. If you find the event awesome, don’t hesitate or forget to write to the organizer
Tell the organizer what you feel about the event, write down a testimonial for the organizer on the same day. They take lot of efforts to make the event successful,and definitely deserve a huge round of applause. Send a thank you letter, share your thoughts on the event page in social media on how you felt about the event. Event Organizers always look for feedback, where they can maximize their contribution towards the community. Likewise, keep the contacts you made at the event open. Organize your business cards and drop a small note on how the meeting went with them. Thank you for their kind gesture to meet you at the event, and create a network before you go and really ask for help.
Conclusion
Whether it is a conference/event/ community talk/ seminar/forum/round table, it is always possible that you will meet someone who is more interested in you. So don’t sit there and watch movies all the Saturday. Yes, it’s little tricky whether to spend time with family and friends or head up for a startup event,but meetups are a sure shot way of getting to know more people and enhance your quality of network. We are social people, we love to share and we love to help. Events are one more way to connecting people together to achieve the greater impact with optimum resource.
