MEMBER NEWS
Why networking will always remain important
Whether you love or hate networking, the way in which it vanished overnight has hampered the ability of many organisations to make crucial connections with future collaborators and clients. From its ashes arose video networking – but Philip Brooks-Stephenson, development director at events company Kuku Connect, explains why the virtual dimension won’t ever replace the physical world for getting businesses talking.
Wherever you fall into the spectrum of business, we all craved the ability to carry on talking and connecting through networking, even if this was just for some human interaction. As a country, we have mostly pulled together, and as business communities, we have been resilient. Many organisations are using
video and virtual tech to keep going, rather than face disaster, but will video stay and will this kill off physical networking events? We see the murmur of some
businesses talking about how everything can be “done online now”, but this is a very dangerous path to tread. Of course, safety must come
first, but how can a 60-second pitch on a device screen, multiplied
by 20 to 60, ever be more productive than meeting a “real” person in “real” time? Face-to-face will always be the most powerful tool any business can have in their arsenal, and they need to use it or lose it. Video has been a saving grace
for many businesses and it has been brilliant to see video networking events take place as an emergency plug. But these innovations should
only add and complement to the all-powerful face-to-face networking opportunities that really help a business to develop authentic, people-based and supportive relationships. This is the true magic of quality networking. How can a robotic process,
which allows for very little genuine
human interaction, ever help you to converse to build up a relationship? I’m sorry to say I speak to businesses every day that tell me networking is a waste of time, and it is because they have experienced sales-heavy, robotic networking events – and video networking has only added to this negative view. But to those of us who have
embraced virtual tech, let’s not beat ourselves up about it. “Going virtual” has been a godsend and a great stopgap. At KuKu Connect, we set up a
number of free support services including the “Carry on KuKu” daily video bulletins, which were packed with tips, advice, events, opportunities, offers and shout- outs for businesses, venues and charities.
Photo courtesy of Saul Morgan
Kuku Connect creative director Stephen Goddard and development director Philip Brooks-Stephenson
But our attention is relatively
short for anything virtual. A pandemic is a temporary issue and the world will gradually be opening back up safely, so it is the duty of business leaders – and particularly networking organisers – to eventually get back out there. Video, you’ve done a sterling job
and we are happy to have you on board, enhancing business networking, but you’re never going to outshine face-to-face business networking – and if you do, it will be to the detriment of quality communication.
business network November 2020
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