By Cesar Plata, Founder infoBayArea.com, 10/15/2007,  rev. 03/11/08

Since 1998, we have organized hundreds of events: monthly business networking mixers, dinner socials, and the very well-attended Silicon Valley Business Expos. We are sharing lessons learned so the next event you plan may be more effective, successful and fun. We also invite you to join us at our upcoming events!

Networking Tips
- Think about it, practice it, have fun! Read other articles about networking, Click Here
- Networking is not an event, it is a process in which you never know which contact will take you to your goal.
• Best business is personal business
  Exchange business cards, ask for and offer referrals.
• Smile and think positively
  People like to do business with others they like and feel comfortable with.
• Know your goal
  Be clear about what you want from each event and interaction.
• Have a message strategy
  When connecting with others, determine their interests and establish a rapport before delivering your branding statement (elevator pitch).
• Be effective with your time
  Acknowledge your friends and devote more time to meeting new people.
• Hold the sales pitch
  Use brief  'elevator pitches.' Do not make long-winded sales presentations.
• Make it a team activity
  Invite others and they may help you maximize coverage at an event.
• Get involved
  Sponsor the event and/or volunteer to help - you will gain more visibility and new clients!

How to Organize Effective & Successful Events

There is a certain 'science and art' to hosting a successful networking event. Note - simply because you are hosting a business networking event, does not mean it has to be cliquey, stuffy, and/or boring, it can be fun too! Here are some observations, based on years of experience organizing our own events, and attending numerous events hosted by chambers of commerce and other professional and non-profit organizations.

A few fundamental principles:
• Best business is personal business.
• LEVERAGE - Do not reinvent the wheel! Join forces with experts. Focus on your strengths, and let other experts do their thing. Share the wealth and glory - share the pain and work. Leveraging and sharing will save you time, money, and headaches!
• How you greet people at the door will set the 'tone and vibe' of the event.
• Just because you are hosting a business networking event, does not mean it has to be boring, cliquey, or stuffy!
• Give people value - respect their time and money. They are going out of their way to attend your event and usually only have 1-3 hours to make as many connections as possible.
• Offer people more than they expect - provide multiple caterers, music, live entertainment, prizes, etc.
• The event is about your guests and clients, not about YOU, or your business!
• People attend your event to network with others, not to listen to long speeches.

What does NOT work:
With all due respect to different organizations who organize multiple events throughout the year - you are doing it wrong! Here are some observations:
• Same crowd, different day - The events draw 90-95% of the same crowd each month. Several organizations do not seem interested in attracting new people or members. They seem satisfied with the status quo! Many people usually leave before the event is over.
• Value for your dollar - Fees are sometimes expensive and do not offer the best return on investment (ROI). Appetizers and entertainment are missing or lacking in quality and quantity.
• Lack of hospitality - They do not make peolpe feel welcomed. Organizers usually sit behind the registration table and ask you to make a nametag, pay, and then 'send you off to the wolves'. Also, representatives from membership organizations seem to be more interested in just signing you up as a member instead of explaining the benefits of joining their organization.
• Long speeches - Hearing people 'stroke themselves' and explain what they do in detail is too much!
• Cliques - Crowds often are not approachable - newcomers or outsiders often feel frustrated, intimidated, and even awkward to approach the 'cliques' of people whom already know each other. They should not have to 'jump through hoops or walk on fire' to connect with others and feel at ease.  Also, it's amazing how many people at these networking events don't carry their business cards or care to give them away!
• Lack of structure - Many chambers of cmmerce do not even have functional, easy to use, online business directories. Hundreds of categories and 5-line ads do not constitute an efective business directory! A chamber without a business directory is not much of a chamber!

infoBayArea.com events - LESSONS LEARNED:
Here are lessons learned from attending and hosting hundreds of events (usually 20-60+ per year) since 1998.   We have had incredibly successful and well-attended events, as well as some poorly-attended events. We have learned from our experiences, and those of others, and gladly share the following lessons learned so you could enhance and organize successful and effective events:

Marketing:
• Lesson - The key to success is not what you know, or who you know, it's who knows you!
• You can never pay anyone enough for word-of-mouth advertising! We are not an overnight success. Since 1998, we have slowly but surely grown our weekly newsletter distribution list to over 13,000 (March 2008). We network a lot and distribute our flyers at numerous networking events. Hundreds, possibly thousands of people, tell others about our services and events. Our website has gone through several facelifts which have increased the traffic tremendously: 450+ visitors per day, and top 3-10 ranking for many keywords on major search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo.

Audience:
• Lesson - Be particular who you reach out to and invite.
• We are very particular who we reach out to. We bring together many entrepreneurs, business owners, and and professioals from mid-size companies, and major corporations. We often have 30-60+% newcomers at each of our events! Our regular monthly networking events usually draw 100-200+ business owners and professionals. Our larger, Silicon Valley Business Expos and mega mixers draw 500-800+.Our audience is professional, very polite, friendly, approachable, good-looking, and lively too!

Location:
• Lesson - Location, Location, Location! (Did we say Location?)
• We host our events at awesome locations (museums, fine restaurants and hotels). Note - we never pay for catering, music and entertainment, and rarely pay to rent locations. It is a testament to our success - many businesses and locales are very willing to work with us because we draw diverse, professional crowds. Besides, we usually host our events on Wednesday or Thursday evenings from 6-9pm and many locations will welcome the business on 'slow' nights. We make them an offer they can't refuse!

Hospitality & Vibe:
• Lesson - A little courtesy goes a long way, always!
• There is a really positive, friendly, business-casual, and approachable vibe at our events. You will rarely see anyone standing alone. Sometimes we will approach that occasional newcomer who may seem to be shy or is simply hanging around, and politely greet them and let them know "We have a rule at our events - No one stands alone!" and then we introduce them to someone else. They are always grateful. People leave our events with new business contacts and friends!

Event Registration:
• Lesson - The way you greet people sets the tone and vibe of the event!
• We give it that 'personal touch'. We greet people with 'Good, Old-Fashioned Hospitality', a smile, a handshake or a hug. DO NOT treat people like cattle (sign here, pay here, next...) People want to be treated like they would treat others. People feel welcomed and usually walk in smiling. They want to feel comfortable and leave an event knowing it was worth their time and investment.
• We ask people to make their own nametag (NEVER use the ones that say 'Hi my name is'), and drop their business card in a fishbowl. People sometimes run out or simply do not have business cards. We printed our own blank business card with our logo on the bottom right corner.

Ambiance / Entertainment:
• Lesson - Indulge the senses!
• The main purpose of a networking event is to provide a venue for your guests to meet new clients. Everything else simply adds to the ambiance. We usually invite many caterers, musicians, and entertainers to participate. Musicians play background music and entertainers (dancers, fashion shows, etc) simply provide more value and fun to the event.
• Check out our photo albums and read the testimonials. Like the biblical quote says - either feed them for a day or teach them how to fish. We offer opportunities for people to help themselves - all they have to do is show up! Join us at our business networking events: Click here

Cost:
• Lesson - Provide a valuable Return On Investment (ROI)
• We strongly believe in developing long-term relationships. We are not greedy. We do not charge much at our events (free, $11/advance, $15/door, OR $25-$32 for the business expos). Our rates for exhibitors are also very reasonable.

Exhibitors:
• Lesson - Provide first-class service to your clients and guests, always!
• We provide each exhibitor with a table and a linen, and place all tables against the walls. We strongly emphasize to exhibitors to ALWAYS stand in front of their table, NEVER behind them. People should be able to speak to an exhibitor eye to eye. It is simply very rude not to do so. Eliminating the 3 to 4 foot distance between the guest and the exhibitor will make people feel more approachable. It will also result in more sales.

The Presentation
• Lesson - Respect people's time, don't waste it!
• At approximately 7:35pm we will get everyone's attention, and for a few minutes will welcome everyone, say a few words about infoBayArea.com, allow a representative from the location to welcome everyone, and then we sometimes allow the exhibitors 20-30 seconds each to introduce themselves. You don't need more time. People will approach their table if they want to learn more. We do not do presentations at our business expos due to the large crowds (500-800+) and dozens (45-140) of exhibitors.
• Usually during the presentation, and before the drawing, we will ask everyone to introduce themselves to the person standing next to them. You will notice a serious buzz in the room - this simple act enlivens the crowd and will encourage people to interact more. Our events end at 9pm. Quite often we have to ask people to go home at 10:30pm!  They are enjoying themselves too much! Quite simply, this is what the event is all about!

Free Drawing
• Lesson - People like the "F" Word - FREE!
• It's Christmas every time at our events! We ask people to bring prizes for the free drawing. We also provide blank gift certificates (click here). We select business cards from the fishbowl and very quickly give away all the prizes and give brief plugs - 'prize  donated by...'.  We do not deliver prizes - must be present to win. At our events most prizes donated range from $50 to gift certificates worth several hundreds of dollars for products and services, to tickets, hotel certificates and airline tickets! We do not give away cheap and cheezy prizes.

Sometimes, for larger events, we will sell drawing tickets ($5 for 3 tickets, $10 for 8 tickets, and $20 for 20 tickets). We ask people to fill out blank gift certificates or complete pre-printed cardstock sheets (prize number, prize description, donated by.., and prize value). Usually 40-60+ prizes are donated per event. At the end of the evening, we will list the winning tickets and prizes on a large butcher paper. 

Helping Others:
• Lesson - Give and you shall receive. What goes around, comes around.
• This business started as a hobby back in 1996 with the simple purpose to provide an online resource for non-profits to recruit mentors from the growing pool of professionals and business owners that we unite. A few words of advice that one of us can share with a young student can help make the difference whether he or she goes to college or ends up somewhere else! Organizations can recruit so many people to become mentors and volunteers at any of our events! We often provide opportunities for non-profits to become exhibitors. We have also collected 200-400+ toys each year during our annual toy drives.

Contact Us
• We look forward to seeing you and your friends and colleagues at our upcoming events.
   Please contact us with your ideas, questions and comments.
• Cesar Plata, Founder infoBayArea.com, 408 272-4772, 239-9006 cell, cplata@infobayarea.com