Someone at your panel asks the exact question you’ve been thinking about. You’d like to meet them afterward. Then the session ends, everyone moves, and you have no idea where they went.
That’s a useful place to start when designing networking: help people continue a conversation that already matters to them.
If you need concrete implementations and creative ideas to integrate or create networking in your event, read below
VersyNow now includes a full networking feature, whether you’re planning a dedicated networking event or adding a few purposeful connections to a panel, conference, or Q&A.
Here are six ways to use it.
1. Give the panel an extra ten minutes of life. After a session on AI adoption, try this prompt: “Find someone considering a similar tool and compare your first use case.” Matching by interests or goals gives participants a starting point beyond a name badge.
2. Build a bingo card worth talking through. Try squares such as “Meet someone who stopped a project and find out why” or “Exchange a useful resource with someone from another industry.” The game opens the conversation; completing the card shouldn’t become more interesting than the people.
3. Match “I need” with “I can help.” Invite participants to name something they’re looking for and something they can contribute. A founder needs customer interviews. A researcher understands the market. Matching around goals gives both people a reason to say hello.
4. Give sponsor meetings a clear purpose. Add companies and sponsors, then offer bookable time slots for a demonstration, a technical question, or a potential partnership. Participants can seek out relevant people and companies and reserve time instead of hovering near a busy booth.
5. Set a challenge that breaks up familiar circles. “Meet someone whose job you don’t understand. Ask which problem comes up every week.” Keep it light. One good challenge can give someone permission to approach a stranger without turning the whole evening into a competition.
6. Make the follow-up easy before everyone leaves. Temporary profiles help people introduce themselves for the event. LinkedIn, phone, and email exchanges let them keep in touch through the channel they choose together. “Let’s connect sometime” has enough unfinished business already.
Start with one or two formats that fit your event.
Networking doesn’t need its own headline on the agenda. Sometimes, it needs a thoughtful place after the Q&A.