Partnerships NETWORKING EVENT
Establishing and running networking events can be a daunting task – what if no-one turns up? Sam Baker shares the wisdom of his experience...
Set up a steering group If you’ve already begun working with local businesses, you’ll know that some partners are more excited than others about engaging with you. This might be because you contacted them just at the right time in their business cycle, when they had the freedom and inclination to give something back; or you might have presented just the opportunity for marketing, recruitment or PR that they had been looking for. Or it might simply be that you’ve struck up a great relationship and they really believe in the partnership. Whatever the reason for their
commitment, these are the people that you should gather round in the early stages to discuss the format that partnership events should take. They will give a good indication of the level of engagement that most businesses will tolerate – the number of events they are prepared to attend during the year, the timing, content and nature of events, and whether
KNOW-HOW
(and how much) they would be prepared to pay to attend. Steering group, planning committee, trustees, whatever you call them, these partners should be willing to shoulder some of the burden of preparation, perhaps by drawing up the agenda, chairing meetings, taking minutes, or by advertising the event to other businesses.
When and where Wouldn’t it be great if one of your partners was a local hotel and could give you a conference room without charge! Or what about using the boardroom of a local business? Or the foyer of a civic building, gallery, or museum? Finding somewhere memorable for your opening event will give your new partners something to talk about! In the long term, however, the venue must suit the purpose, the convenience and accessibility of partners travelling there and the ease of administering it each time.
The main purpose of our networking events is for students and business partners to meet and nd out more about each other. It’s useful for our events to be held at the school, enabling students to easily attend. Fortunately, we have the space to invite 50-60 people each time, but many schools don’t and would need to make other arrangements. If, however, your aim is to establish a networking event for businesses, then your partners may appreciate a more upmarket venue! One of the selling points of
hosting our networking events at the school is that businesses have the opportunity to step into the premises of the organisation they are supporting. Breakfast from the school canteen is both an amusing opportunity to reminisce about their own school days and the chance to breathe in the atmosphere of the environment into which they are putting their energies. Our events are primarily breakfast
meetings, with an 8-for-8:30am start. This coincides with the start of the school day and allows time for sleepy students to arrive. Most businesses seem happy with this arrangement and even hang around for extra networking well after the 10am nish time.
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