Networking Insight

Connect with Alumni from Your Alma Mater to Build Powerful Allies

When building relationships finding commonality with others is an important strategy to grow your network. Commonality can take many forms with family, school, employer, sports, and hobbies.

One of the most powerful connection points for people is their alma mater. Going to college is such a pivotal time in anyone's life that you usually form a strong connection to your school. So chances are they many other alumni feel the same way. The college experience defines many people's lives while going to school but also sets the path for their life afterwards.

Most major cities have alumni associations for certain universities. If one exists in your city, it is worth exploring because you can continue to support your school but one another. Connecting with other alumni is a powerful way to build up the quality of your network.

Building trust and credibility are important elements of a long-term sustainable relationship. By starting with a deep bond for one's alma mater, you have a good beginning point to build a relationship. As these alumni relationships continue to build, business will start taking place.

Alumni can support one another with clients, strategic relationships, employees, capital, and really any type of scenario. Universities understand the power of keeping their alumni connected to the school, which can also result in a donation back to the school. 

One great example of keeping alumni connected is Alumni Ventures Group, which has developed a network of alumni based funds for a variety of schools. The funds allow alumni to support fellow alumni by providing them a vehicle to invest in their companies through a venture capital fund.

Take the time to connect with other alumni through LinkedIn, your alumni association, sporting events, or a number of other ways. Building up your network with other alumni is an effective way to add powerful allies to your life.

How Event Technology is Shaping the Future of Networking by Shannon Kelly

Technology is constantly changing the way we connect with the world around us. Thanks to social media platforms like LinkedIn, we can communicate with someone halfway around the world at the click of a button. But changes in technology are not only improving online connection opportunities – face-to-face networking is also rapidly evolving as a result of technologies that have emerged in the last few years. Here’s how event technology is improving networking online and in-person.

Matching technologies make meetings more strategic.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to networking is connecting the right people. At large events, it’s particularly difficult for attendees to form concrete connections in a room full of people they know nothing about. In the past, it was impossible to strategically pair people together without spending a ton of time manually matching participants. Today, technology can do that for you. Whether it’s connecting people based on shared interests, common goals, specific industries, experience, or job function, algorithms and software have been developed to ensure all attendees are meeting with people whose interests and experience align with their unique preferences. It’s more strategic, structured, and effective.

Social networking platforms and event apps help facilitate discussions and increase participation.

Social networking platforms and event apps are an innovative way to facilitate discussions among event attendees who don’t have the opportunity or ability to meet face-to-face. Online message boards, Q&A sessions, live streaming, and real-time polling are just some of the ways event technology is helping attendees feel more involved and engaged. In addition, some event apps allow attendees to directly message other attendees, thus allowing for one-on-one conversations among individuals who have similar interests.

Event technology helps event planners create more personalized experiences for their attendees.

Perhaps one of the most powerful parts of event technology is its innovative ability to create more personalized experiences for your event attendees. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, event technology is making it possible for attendees to offer feedback, and in some cases, even on-the-spot select what types of programming and networking they want to take part in. Allowing attendees to select what types of activities, speakers, and networking sessions they’re interested in helps give each person a unique event experience and connect with the right people at the touch of their finger. In today’s fast-paced, smartphone-centric, immediate gratification driven world, that is paramount.

All in all, event technology is proving to be an important component in improving attendee event experience. Whether it’s through event apps, social networks, matching software, or more personalized event experiences, technology is enhancing networking by allowing it’s users to connect, collaborate, and communicate more efficiently and more effectively than ever before.

Interested in learning more about event technology that helps connect the right people? SpeedNetworking.com takes the traditional value of face-to-face networking and combines it with an advanced matching software to take in-person networking to the next level. It’s strategic, structured, effective, and fun! Visit speednetworking.com to learn more.

Find Multiple Employees Through Your Network

Relationships are critical to building and growing a company, especially when it comes to finding good employees. In the early days of a company, leveraging your network is generally an effective and inexpensive way to find employees. Really at any stage of development, your network can be a critical ally.

You want to find people who are trusted and good referrals. Usually your network can make those recommendations. Many times those making the introductions are similar to the candidates that they refer. If you like the demeanor, work ethic, and personality of the referrer, then chances are those who they recommend you will like as well. Of course, some referrals may be bad hires but that can happens even if you pay a recruiter to assist you.

Another great tool that can leverage your network is LinkedIn. Spend time researching potential candidates on LinkedIn and then ask for introductions to those in your network who have first degree connections. In fact, many recruiters leverage LinkedIn to find good qualified candidates. The bigger your LinkedIn network, the more opportunity to find a wide variety of candidates. However, make sure that you know those who you connect with on LinkedIn vs. just trying to connect with everyone. If you ask for an introduction from someone who you barely know (or don't know at all), chances are that this person will not be helpful in connecting you to a potential candidate.

Focus on building a diverse network across genders, industries, skillsets, and geographies. The more diverse your network, the better chance that you will be able to leverage your relationships to find a variety of employees

 

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