What’s the goal of tech conferences for entrepreneurs? N-E-T-W-O-R-K-I-N-G! Some guys will tell you they just come to learn about what’s going on. But as a startup founder, can your really afford to “lose” time?
And to make your attendance at a tech conference valuable, the key is preparation. For Dublin Web Summit, I was late to discover the guys I need to meet. To much going on currently and having to set priorities… that’s a pity, but that’s not the reason of this post! I’d like to explain you the networking tools proposed by DWS (yes, every good tech conference has a networking tool).
Some conferences display the whole list of attendees (like LeWeb, Lift Conference, Next Berlin), but DWS took a different path. On the event website, you can download the list of exhibitors, speakers, VC, etc. But not the “normal” attendees (you and me!).
DWS set up a tool where you connect your Facebook account and it shows you people you’re connected to at the 1st or 2nd degree. You discover the names of the guys, with their FB bio. OK. Except if you know everyone in the tech industry, how can you quickly find the guys you’d like to meet? And how do you proceed when you’re not using Facebook actively on the business side (maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I try to keep it separate: Linkedin/Xing for business relations, Facebook for friends)?
A bit disappointed by this tool and would prefer to connect with my Linkedin account. Maybe next year?
But anyway. DWS also set up a crazy tools to network “randomly based on what you’re looking for”. A specific form was available for attendees, where you can tell who you are (investor vs startup vs brand vs etc.), what you do (pitch your company!) and who you’d like to meet (startup looking for investors, to meet brands, etc.). And the craziest thing: I received an email Tuesday afternoon to tell me to show up at the networking area at 16:00 on Wednesday… without knowing anything else.
I have no idea who I’ll meet, how it will work, what to really expect from it. But the uncommon and crazy nature of this networking session is simply… exciting! I’m looking forward to experience it later on. And I’ll update this post with my impression. So stay tuned!
Update: the random networking session was pretty cool, but was finally not as promising as I had expected. It was “just” a little area where people interested by the topics were present. And you just bump into people. I’ve met interesting guys there, but not directly what I was expecting to (brands!). But anyway, cool tool and pretty happy having taken part!