Here’s how to be the guru of hobnobbing

How would you like to be the hub of an expanding network? Organising and hosting your own networking events is a smart way to accomplish this.

Here’s how to get started.

Plan the event

A formal, organised networking event, where attendees get less than five minutes each to talk about themselves and their problems or opportunities is highly recommended. They should also contribute ideas, connections, advice and referrals. At the end, attendees would mingle.

Pick the venue

Pick a spot where you can all sit at a table, or if it is a bigger group, fit into a room. Cafés or a reserved table or function room at a restaurant are good choices, as are library meeting rooms.

Send invites

The success of your event would depend largely on the quality of the attendees, so make your guest list carefully. The best guests will be able to describe what they need clearly and concisely and will also have valuable suggestions or information for others.

Decide whether you want your invitees to bring their own guests. If they do, you will be able to expand the group faster. Remember, however, you could lose control over who’s coming. One way to mitigate that risk is to encourage invitees to refer their contacts to you. When creating your guest list, talk to these prospective invitees to get an idea of whether they would be good additions to the group.

Set an agenda

Email a list of all confirmed attendees with a short intrduction of each. Reviewing this information beforehand would help guests maximise their networking efforts, because they will know a bit about who they will be meeting. Also confirm the date, time and directions to the location. Send it to the group three to five days before the event and again the day before.

Play host

Here’s where you solidify your role as the network hub. When the event begins, welcome everyone and introduce those who don’t know each other. Begin and end the meeting on time. Control the clock so everyone gets a turn to talk. And don’t forget to talk about yourself and what you’re looking for.

Follow up

Send an email thanking everyone for attending and following up on any idea that came out of the meeting. Also, remind everyone that details about the next event will be forthcoming, and make sure you personally follow up with the people you want to get to know better.

Set next date

Meeting monthly sets a good pace, but if your group has the time and is really aggressive, twice a month could work. Decide whom to invite back from the original group, and determine if there’s anyone new you want to bring in.

For future gatherings, you might want to experiment with the format. You could host an unstructured event where attendees introduce themselves and mingle. Another option is an organised discussion group in which you bring people together to talk about a particular topic. Attendees can get acquainted through the discussion itself.

Regardless of the event type, once you’ve established yourself as the go-to person in your growing network, you will be able to feed off its contacts, energy and ideas to build your career or business.