Last Monday was a very productive day for me and that too in a beautiful setup. I met up with some lovely, not for a kitty party but ladies who meant business. There were over 20 women in a room chatting for over 2 hours marketing their respective businesses and products. Can you imagine how much energy was there in this space? This Speed Networking Meet or Speed Networking Sutra or SNS as Ritu Gorai, the founder of JAMMs mommy group, likes to call it was one hell of an event and have to mention the beautiful venue which was incidental but so pretty. Dolled & Dapper in enchanted the woman in me and had I been a little girl, I would have found the MadHatter and his tea party there. I did try to look over my shoulders a few times :).
Ritu and Krishna from SNS
So what is SNS or Speed Networking Sutra?
Speed Networking Sutra / SNS is a 3 hours speed business meeting designed specifically for like-minded & enterprising women professionals or entrepreneurs to exchange & gather information.
Why is this relevant and why as an entrepreneur must you attend one?
In a recent global survey undertaken by the Harvard Business Review, “95% of participants said that face-to-face meetings are a key factor in successfully building and maintaining long-term business relationships and 79% said that in-person meetings are the most effective way to meet new clients to sell business”.
How does it work?
There are two teams (A and B) of 10 participants each. Both teams sit facing each other. For example, if you are in Team A and you start, you are given 3 minutes to share your visiting card and talk about your product/business and market yourself. Then the buzzer goes off, this is the cue for the person from Team B sitting in front of you to market their product to you. The next buzzer goes off and you are supposed to shift to the next member from Team B, while Team B remains stationary. Basically, after a few optimal permutations and combinations, you end up meeting everyone and talking a lot about your product. It’s exhausting but you come out feeling very productive and networking with 19 other people would have actually taken you months in any other situation. There is also a guest speaker at the end who will share his/her experiences and the tricks of the trade in an interactive question & answers chat.
My Takeaway from the event;
- It is better to be prepared with a 3-minute introduction about you and your business. For eg, while talking about my blog I forgot to mention to the beginning few participants that it had been listed as one of India’s Top Mommy blog.
- Have a supply of business cards ready along with sample size of the product you are marketing. It leaves a good impression and instantly connects the other person to your business/product. For eg. this lady who was into horticulture gave me her visiting card which if sown in a pot can actually become a plant. It made such a lasting impression on me and people around. Innovate.
- Keep your appointment calendar handy and you can fix meetings and calls with relevant people there and then. Or else you should connect to them in the next 48 hours as recommended by the SNS team.
- Dress well. In such a small span clothes will create the first impression about you and your business.
So if you do want to attend such an event you can get in touch with Ritu Gorai at snsutra@gmail.com. Happy Networking :)!!
