Last Wednesday I pottered into lovely Palma de Mallorca to be part of Mashable’s Social Media Day. There’s not a very big local networking scene locally (except for TwittPalma) so I thought I should make the most of it.
Of course, it was a Spanish event that also attracted some English speakers like myself. And herein lies the problem with lots of networking events – it’s scary speaking to new people. And if they speak a different language you’re not fluent in? Even more so.
Love people, dislike networking
I’m not really a fan of networking; it all feels a bit unnatural and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a necessary evil. But conversely, I love meeting new people and talking with them. But not about work. And especially not in a forced way…
So, as often happens, people kept to the groups (of very lovely people, of course) that they knew. Next time, I think the ‘social’ aspect of the event should be harnessed, maybe in a ‘speed dating’ way.
Make friends, maybe influence people
Everyone who attends receives a number. Then they pick a number out of a hat and have to speak to that person for five minutes, at the same time swapping Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook details. Repeat…
After maybe 30 minutes of this, everyone will have met 6 people and, hopefully, have enough people to speak to for the rest of the evening.
Where’s [the] Wally?
Check out this brilliant timelapse video of the event – can you spot me? I’m in a blue shirt and jeans, and am stood for quite a while on the right-hand side of the frame…