Facilitation Tips for Better Connections and Conversations (Facilitation Friday #47)
It's long past time to get serious about making it easier for people to network and engage at events. Here are some obvious, yet still underutilized, tactics to do so.
Association and corporate meetings continue to tout networking as one of their primary benefits, yet the events often demonstrate little intentional design to increase the connections that participants seek. Individual workshop presenters, whether at freestanding events or as part of a conference, often have little experience with designing sessions that facilitate meaningful interactions.
In no particular order, here are some woefully obvious, yet still underutilized, tactics to make it easier for people to connect and converse that cost next to no time or money.
1. Pump up the font on the namebadge so names are readable from a distance and also include one piece of information to get people talking. Adding an "Ask me about _____" space on the badge turns it from a name recognition device into a conversation starter. One of my favorite small conferences had us “accessorize” our badges upon arrival using a variety of stickers and other art supplies. This immediately personalized an impersonal object and engaged us with other attendees while doing so.
2. Consider organizing registration lines around something other than the alphabet. I have nothing in common with other people whose last name begins with C. If registration lines were organized by geographic region or other like-minded classifications, however, while standing in line I might connect with someone from my general vicinity, someone with whom I might network after the event or perhaps even already know.
3. Have at least one meal be buffet or served family style. Plated meal service minimizes casual interaction among participants. You talk to people while standing in line or when passing them a serving dish. It's a little thing, but it gets conversations started.
4. Include space in participant listings (and possibly on name badges) for social media handles.
5. For smaller conferences or individual workshops, have an area with games, puzzles, books and resources similar to what you find in the lobby of an old-fashioned resort. These public spaces hold particular appeal for introverts, and I've seen many a relationship develop while informally working on a puzzle with other participants or playing a hand of cards during a break.
6. Heaven forbid that we might ask people at the first general session to introduce themselves to a few of the people they are seated near. Better yet, make this the norm for each block of sessions and perhaps have a different simple and purposeful question that people answer for each block: best book I read recently, one person to definitely follow on a social channel, a resource I couldn't do without, et al).
7. Help surface common characteristics among session participants. Generate a short list or facilitate a quick conversation to develop one: What are some things you’d most like to know about others here today? Then read each one aloud, asking people to raise their hand or move forward if it applies to them. Ask them to look around to see others who share this commonality.
8. Provide on-site volunteering opportunities, letting individuals join others small doing task work to help with the conference ... session monitors, registration, greeting people at general sessions. We connect with others while contributing to the conference ... that's a two-fer.
9. Invite people to swap tables at an appropriate point during a session. Many people are creatures of habit, picking a table at the start of a full-day workshop and then staying in the same spot all day. Before or after a lunch break is one natural time to invite some new connections. Remember, some people select seats based on visual or hearing needs, so don’t force the issue.
10. Give people something to look at and talk about during big receptions and workshops. Not everyone is comfortable talking to complete strangers, but it is easier to break the ice when you can reference an awards display or piece of art you are both standing in front of while enjoying food and beverage. Workshops can enable conversation with slide shows displaying quotes and facts related to the conference theme or workshop topic or a quick content-related quiz (think of ones often included with movie previews).
11. Have at least one meal function or reception where people can opt to sit with like-minded participants and discuss a common professional or personal interest. From professional table topics to informal breakfast conversations about books or shared interests/hobbies, it's a low-risk way to let people self-organize should they be so inclined.
Better yet, let people indicate these interests during registration and help them form small groups around them, offering a few designated times for people to meet with their colleague group during the conference.
12. Use content-related quotes to facilitate peer-peer connections in a workshop and/or small group formation. Print a variety of quotes on cards and distribute randomly among participants. Have them find others with the same quote, form a group, introduce themselves, and react to their shared quote.
13. Have seasoned professionals or industry rock stars host tables for first-time attendees at your first meal function so they get connected to someone who really knows the ins and outs of your profession or industry. It often is a flattering volunteer ask for individuals with whom your organization may have lost some connection.
14. Turn your participant directory from an address book into a true networking tool by adding two fields on the registration form and then publishing them in the directory: (1) topics I want to learn more about, and (2) topics I could be a resource on for others. Provide a legend of topics with corresponding numbers for people to use in their responses. Even better? Make this info searchable so individuals can identify who might have the knowledge they seek.
Bottom Line
So many events still aren't doing the basics, yet the suggestions offered really are yesterday's news. In the future, we'll know a meeting, workshops, or conference isn't serious about networking unless it intentionally acknowledges that a healthy percentage of participants now come with their own powerful networks already cultivated (via social media) and conference components leverage those relationships and include more time for meaningful collaboration and co-creation.
Getting in Action
Generate a short list of relevant participant interests or characteristics that you could use for some of the ideas suggested.
Think of the most meaningful networking activity you experienced. What are the key elements that made it so useful? How might you adopt or adapt some of those elements to facilitate connections and conversations in a future meeting, workshops, or conference?
Identify succinct and practical guidance to offer presenters to help accelerate connections and conversations in their sessions.
What are other easy-to-implement ideas that you have seen conference designers and session presenters or facilitators use to increase connectivity among participants at their events?
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