By Linda Nguyen, PhD MBA
photography by Kyle Carreon
It’s 2024, the COVID pandemic is now the COVID endemic and folks are back in the office and conference rooms. You’re planning on attending a big industry conference (so lucky!) and are wondering how to make the most of your time there to learn as much as possible, plus expand and cultivate your network. It starts with a lot of planning in advance and leveraging your relationships to get the meetings you need, then keeping the relationships warm in between meetings by fostering connections with check ins.
Here are some actionable behaviors you can adopt to network and foster relationships better. Trust me – I learned from some pretty good networkers :).
Building Relationships Virtually and in Person
Checking In
During COVID, there weren’t many in person events to attend to meet people, but there were phones, email and social media like LinkedIn to help build connections and stay in touch. So what I would do was segment people I wanted to keep in my circle as high, medium or low touch and set free (rather than busy) 15 min calendar block reminders weekly or monthly (depending on the touch level) to remind myself to say hi and reconnect with them. I also pinned people whom I spoke to more often to the top of my iChat or Gchat so it was more efficient to stay connected.
Celebrate With Them
When people in my network had milestones like promotions, new jobs, new family members, etc. I’d congratulate them on LinkedIn and also follow up with them over the phone to help celebrate in their success. If I knew they were sick and caught COVID or had a death in the family, I’d check in on them too to make sure they had what they needed, including a friendly ear. My contacts’ birthdays would go into my calendar as well so I could wish them happy birthday on their special anniversary around the sun. I can’t tell you how happy it makes others to have someone to share their experiences with.
Convert Virtual Interactions to In Person Meetings
These virtual interactions would be a boon in helping foster relationships over time and distance, and eventually, would be converted to in person meetings over brunch, tea, dinner or activity (see my Recommended Reading below) once it was safe to meet in person. There you can can really get to know each other’s dreams, wishes, hobbies, families… what really makes them tick.
The important thing here is to make them feel like the most important person in the world with each interaction, no matter how long or short, and remember to follow up about their kid’s hockey games (people love talking about their kids) and what they’re interested in. This will help increase the quality of your interactions and relationship as time goes on.
Networking at Conferences, Summits, Meetings, Dinners and Virtually
Research Your Target Audience
You’re going to BIO International in San Diego this year and taking the Advanced Business Development workshop, so you made a list of the people and companies you wanted to speak with and set up the meetings and agendas. Great, now is also the time to do research on LinkedIn and the company’s mission and pipeline to better understand who you’re meeting with to be prepared. If you have mutual contacts, it’s a good avenue to reconnect with them to get information on how your mutual colleague works.
Speak With the Attendees
When you’re at the actual workshop or conference, read people’s name tags as you walk the floors, make use of the Q&A with the speakers and break times to naturally strike up a conversation and seek insight on the topic at hand. When I went to BIO’s Foundations in Business Development in San Diego the other year, the same external folks I was working on a de novo drug discovery collaboration deal with for my company were in the same workshop. You never know who you’ll meet and if it will be the start of a budding friendship, mentorship or deal. Share business cards (especially with two hands with your Japanese colleagues) and follow up with the folks you met at the conference and meetings after to keep the relationship alive. Are they going to the same industry events as you in the future? Perhaps they can give you a warm introduction to someone. That’s a perfect opportunity to catch up!
Conduct Yourself Professionally
Of course, when you’re attending dinners or events with alcohol, moderate yourself so you can maintain a professional image with your colleagues, but also have fun bonding with them and getting to know them as humans outside of the office.
Good Luck!
Hope these tips help you at your next work event and in cultivating your network! Best of luck and let me know how it went in the comments down below.
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