Best Ways to Utilize Conference Networking for Business Development

A lot of the value of attending or speaking at a conference doesn’t come from being there. It comes from what you do afterwards. How many times have you come back from a conference or event and thought, “I should’ve done more to maximize that experience”? Not just attending the sessions or showing up at the networking receptions, but turning it into something meaningful for your visibility, your relationships and your business development efforts. Me too 🙋🏼♀️ It’s easy to get caught up in our busy lives, especially after returning from a conference and then move on to the next thing without following up. What you proactively do after the event is what can turn conversations into relationships and visibility into opportunity. Here are some ways to make the most of attending your next conference: ✔️ Prioritize the people you met and follow up with context on LinkedIn or by email, referencing your conversation and suggesting a clear next step ✔️ Follow up with organizers to share feedback and express interest in speaking or getting involved in future programming ✔️ Turn your conference notes into key takeaways and share them as content (LinkedIn post, blog post or short video) connected to your work, your clients or what you’re seeing in the market ✔️ Host your own webinar to recap key themes and extend the conversation ✔️ Interview speakers or attendees whose perspectives stood out and use that content in a webinar, blog post or on social media ✔️ Host an internal recap to share key insights and connect them to your team’s work ✔️ Turn questions or conversations from the event into content or targeted outreach ✔️ Share insights from the event in an email newsletter ✔️ Add relevant new contacts to your email list so you can stay visible with them ✔️ Create a simple system to stay in touch with the people who matter most ✔️ Review the attendee list and reach out to people you didn’t meet ✔️ Follow up with speakers you admired, even if you didn’t connect in person ✔️ Identify one trend or theme you kept hearing across conversations and proactively share that perspective with clients or colleagues You already put in the time and energy to be there. This is how you carry that momentum forward. Which of these ideas resonated most with you? #LegalMarketing #ClientDevelopment #LinkedInTips #BusinessDevelopment #PersonalBrandingTips

Over the next 3 months, I’m hosting 4 major events in France, UK, USA and KSA. Beforehand, I want to share my top tips on how to get the best out of networking. 1. Set Clear Targets Action: Make a hit list of the top 10 companies or people you need to meet. Research what they care about—know their wins, pain points, & what they’re hunting for before you walk through the door. Outcome: These conversations won’t just happen by chance. By doing your homework, you’ll turn a five-minute chat into a deal-building moment. Schedule meetings in advance, & after the event, send a tailored follow-up email that shows you were listening. 2. Take the Stage (Literally) Action: Get on the agenda. Whether it’s a keynote, panel, or fireside chat, nothing says “I’m the one to watch” like holding the mic. Use this time to address the industry’s biggest challenges & position yourself—& your company—as the answer. Outcome: Speaking builds instant credibility. It’s not just exposure; it’s authority. Post-event, share the highlights on LinkedIn & invite attendees to continue the conversation, turning an audience into a lead pipeline. 3. Own the Floor Action: Don’t just lurk—work the room. Engage with key exhibitors, ask questions, & position yourself as a resource, not just another pitch. Be direct but curious: “What’s your biggest challenge this year?” and “How can I help?” are powerful openers. Outcome: You’ll stand out as someone who listens. Take notes during conversations, & follow up within 48 hours with a personalised message. Not a generic “great meeting you”—send actionable insights or specific ideas that move the ball forward. 4. Host the Inner Circle Action: People bond better in a more relaxed setting than over Wi-Fi. Organise an exclusive dinner, roundtable, or cocktail event for a curated group of heavy hitters. Keep it intimate—this is about building relationships, not just showing off. Go easy on the heavy sell. Outcome: People remember who brought them value & connections, not who handed out free pens. Post-event, share any key takeaways & book one-on-one follow-ups to solidify what you started over drinks. 5. Hack the Tech Action: Use every tool at your disposal—event apps, LinkedIn, QR codes. Pre-event, reach out to attendees & book meetings. At the event, swap contacts digitally to keep things seamless, & use a CRM to track every interaction. Outcome: You’ll leave the event with an organised roadmap of leads, not just a stack of business cards destined for a desk drawer. Follow up strategically with segmented, value-driven emails & keep the momentum alive. The Bottom Line: Trade fairs & exhibitions aren’t just networking. Preparation, presence, & follow-up separate those who close deals from those who just collect swag bags. Be human. Don’t think of this as just a branding exercise but an opportunity for long term partnerships. Be genuine - your new contacts will become close contacts, if not friends. Make it count! #revenuegrowth

Ever walk into a conference and immediately regret every life choice that led you there? Here are 6 things that helped me. Confession: As an introvert, I used to DREAD conferences. Standing alone, clutching lukewarm coffee, desperately hoping the earth would swallow me whole. After ~2 years, I realized I was just doing it wrong. Recently coached a seller heading to her first treasury conference and dreading it. Here's the exact 6 things I told her (that transformed how I approach conferences): 1/ Figure out WHO will actually be there Most conference websites are marketing fluff. Dig deeper: → Check speaker titles (reveals attendee seniority) → Look for "free tickets to treasury managers" (tells you the audience) → Notice if sessions are Strategies vs. How-To's (execs attend the former) We discovered speakers included retired CFOs and VPs of Treasury. Real decision-makers, not just end users. 2/ Create your "value-first" conversation toolkit Nothing kills networking faster than forced small talk. Come armed with value: → 2 podcast recommendations per persona → Names of a few thought leaders + recent news → Customer success stories for common challenges Now instead of awkward silence, she can say: "Just discovered this Treasury podcast by Eleanor Hill on AI implementation. Have you checked it out?" 3/ Stack rank your target accounts You can't remember 100 accounts while speed-networking. Create a mobile list of: → Top 20 "dream" accounts likely to attend → Specific folks you want to meet When you see name badges, you can quickly check priority level. 4/ Focus on executive-level sessions Skip the technical "how-to" sessions. You're not there to learn the job - you're there to understand the people who do it. Must-attend sessions: → Anything with "CFO" or "VP Treasury" speakers → Business problems your software solves → AI and future of treasury discussions These teach you their vocabulary, priorities, and fears. 5/ Master the art of non-salesy follow-up Instead of collecting LI profiles for follow-up, create reasons for valuable 2nd conversations: "Based on your challenges, I'd love to introduce you to [customer exec] who recently solved something similar. What's the best way to connect you two?" They give contact info because they WANT you to follow up. 6/ Set a clear success metric My client's goal: 10 quality conversations. Not leads. Not demos. Just 10 genuine exchanges where she learned something valuable or provided value. This removes the desperate "I need to sell something" energy that repels prospects. Bottom line: Conferences are about showing up with purpose and a plan. When you know exactly who to meet, what value to provide, and how to follow up meaningfully... suddenly conferences transform from anxiety-inducing nightmares into pipeline accelerators. What's your #1 conference survival strategy? pic: Getting ready to present at GSKO with Katie Trevino and Rachel Johnson!

In a world where every executive has a firm handshake and a stack of business cards, how do you become the person everyone remembers after a conference? After attending dozens in the past decade, I've developed a strategy that transforms conferences from transactional meetups into relationship goldmines. ♟️Pre-Conference LinkedIn Strategy The real networking begins weeks before the event. Review the speaker and attendee lists, then connect with key individuals on LinkedIn with a personalized message: "I noticed we’re both attending the Stand & Deliver event. I'd love to connect. See you soon." This pre-conference connection creates a warm introduction and significantly increases your chances of meaningful engagement. 👗👔The Memorable Wardrobe Element In my early career, I blended in at conferences. Now? I'm known for wearing a little more color (often D&S Executive Career Management teal) or patterns that are professional yet distinctive. When someone says, "Oh, you're the one with the great dress," you've already won half the networking battle. 🤝Contribute Before You Collect** Instead of collecting business cards, focus on providing immediate value in conversations. Can you connect someone to a resource? Share relevant research? Offer a solution to a challenge they mentioned? The executives who stand out aren't those who take the most cards—they're the ones who solve problems on the spot. What networking approach has worked for you at recent conferences? Share in the comments below! #ExecutiveLeadership #NetworkingStrategy #ConferenceSuccess #ProfessionalDevelopment

If you run a small business, networking isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s an investment. Over the past year, I’ve attended events from an Amazon Web Services (AWS) soccer game to an American Express panel, and even a LinkedIn for Marketing launch party in NYC. One thing became clear: the connections you make and how you nurture them, can shape your business in ways you don’t see immediately. Here are 5 strategies that have made a real difference for Brkaway: Invest in conversations, not contacts. Showing up isn’t enough. At the AWS soccer game, I spent halftime asking people about their businesses and challenges instead of pitching Brkaway. That curiosity opened doors, sparked insights, and reinforced a simple truth: networking is about investing in others first. One warm introduction can change everything. Referrals and intros have outsized impact. A single connection might lead to a client, partner, or advice that saves months of trial and error. Showing up in the right rooms consistently keeps your business top of mind with the people who matter. Listen more than you pitch. At events like the AMEX panel, listening carefully was more powerful than rehearsing my elevator pitch. When you focus on understanding what others need, you build trust and credibility. People remember how you made them feel, not your elevator pitch. The best connections happen in between. At the NYC launch party, some of the most valuable conversations happened casually.. waiting for elevators, grabbing a drink, walking between spaces. Casual, unscripted moments often lead to more authentic relationships than formal networking. Follow up or it didn’t happen. Meeting someone is just the start. The real investment comes afterward: connecting on LinkedIn, tracking conversations, setting reminders, and engaging with people’s content. That’s how relationships grow into opportunities. Remember, networking isn’t a checkbox. It’s equity in your business. 

Hosting 2 exec dinners back to back reminded me that you don’t need a DJ booth and branded tumblers to build pipeline. You need proximity. It's 2025 and there's still this lingering belief that the bigger the event, the bigger the impact. The logo wall, the glitzy booth, the team dinner that cost more than a quarter’s marketing budget. IMO conferences are great for visibility, but they’re terrible for real conversations. You scan 300 badges. You remember 3 faces. And the best interaction you had? A random intro in the hotel bar. That’s not so much a strategy as it is simply gambling with your marketing budget. IMO the best way to do this is to go small, which ironically, will allow you to win big. We’re talking: 1. Executive roundtables with 20-30 handpicked guests (like the ones Sales Assembly does every month). 2. Working sessions tailored to a real, shared problem. 3. Dinners where the customer does 90% of the talking. 4. Field events where every attendee is pre-qualified and mapped to pipeline. Why it works: - You control the guest list. No wasted conversations. - You control the environment. No distractions. - You control the follow up. No getting buried in a sea of booth emails. These aren’t “networking events.” They’re high-trust conversion machines. Because when the room is small, the stakes get higher, the conversations get deeper, and the pipeline gets real. If you want to win business, don’t just go where everyone is. Go where real conversations happen. Or create those environments yourself. Thanks as always to Nooks, Capchase, and TigerEye for their continued partnership in creating these types of environments, including this one last night in Salt Lake City!

𝐒𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 '𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤' 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬? During our mentoring session, someone asked: "What's the least annoying, most effective way to network?" The panelists' answers surprised people. 𝟏. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 One panelist: "When someone reaches out and it's very obvious they've read my work or looked at my website and custom-tailored a message TO ME specifically - I always reply. 99% of messages I get are generic. If I can tell you sent the same message to 100 people, I won't respond." In the AI era, this matters more than ever. Everyone can send "personalized" emails at scale now. Manual cold emails get lost in the noise. 𝟐. 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞-𝐭𝐨-𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝟓𝟎 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 Conferences aren't just keynotes - they're networking goldmines. Vendor booths, poster sessions, coffee breaks. This is where real connections happen. Can't afford registration? Offer to volunteer. Many organizers give free entry in exchange for helping at the registration desk. Medical device conferences bring together startups trying to get noticed. Scientific conferences have vendor halls full of companies looking for talent. Go there. Talk to people. Ask for coffee meetings. 𝟑. 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 Your current or former mentors, classmates, research collaborators - these warm connections are exponentially more valuable than cold outreach. Ask your mentors to introduce you to people in their networks. But be specific: Not "I want to get into neurotech" but "I'm interested in clinical trial design for brain stimulation devices." 𝟒. 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 People who successfully break into neurotech without traditional credentials got there by working harder early on. They didn't skip steps. They earned trust by delivering value first. 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: Quality over quantity, always. One thoughtful, personalized message beats 100 generic ones. One meaningful in-person conversation beats 50 LinkedIn connections. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝? 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬. 👇 𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝?

Conference season is officially here… and my suitcase has basically become a second closet 😵💫 After attending more private equity conferences than I can count (and powering through some very long days), I’ve picked up a handful of tips and tricks I wish I'd known earlier. In case anyone else needed a few pointers, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share: -Complete your conference profile ahead of time. Especially your cell number. Being easy to reach is critical, and if someone can’t find you, the meeting often doesn’t happen. -Stay at the conference hotel if you can. Even if it is a bit more expensive, I usually find that it is worth it. Periodically popping back to your room to work, rest, change, or recharge makes the days much easier. -Comfort > fashion (at least a little). Block heels are my compromise. Your feet will thank you. -Leave quick voice memos after meetings. After 10+ conversations, details blur. Voice notes straight to the CRM are a lifesaver. -Stay in your normal time zone as much as possible. It is not always realistic, but I have found it makes getting back into work mode far less painful. I also love getting up early and fitting in a workout before the day starts. -When in doubt, say “nice to see you.” If you are unsure whether you have met someone before, “nice to see you” always works. “Nice to meet you” can get awkward fast. It happens to all of us. -Go to the after-hours events. That’s where connections turn into real relationships (which eventually lead to referrals!) -Block time for follow-up when you’re home. Organize your notes, reach out to everyone you met, and add them to your CRM. The sooner the better, while everything is still fresh. Early in my career, I sometimes questioned whether conferences were worth it. What I’ve learned is that the ROI compounds over time. The more you go, the more familiar faces you see. Familiar faces turn into friends. And those relationships naturally turn into business referrals. It has worked very well for me. Let me know if I missed anything. I’m always looking to level up my conference game and would love to hear the tips you swear by! #ConferenceTips #Networking #PrivateEquity #MiddleMarket #Recruiting #SoulEquity #WeBuildDealTeams

I used to drop $1,000 on big conferences, thinking that’s where all the action was happening. Now? Game-changing events > calendar fillers. Turns out, the best convos were always happening at small side events. Recently at TechWeek, I managed to get into a tiny, highly curated event for a Series B+ audience and it was so worth the hustle. This wasn’t a “buy ticket, show up” kind of event. It was more like: find the organizers → reach out directly → dig up mutual intros → prep a killer intro blurb → earn your spot Because even the best pitch means nothing if you’re in the wrong room. Here’s how I decide where to go now, and don’t waste my time (or budget) there: → Research the audience first Check last year’s attendees. Look at the speaker companies. If your ICP isn’t there, don’t go. → Prioritize curated over open-door Events with RSVP forms and shortlists are gold. They take more effort to get into, but the quality of conversation is 10x higher. → Hunt for the small stuff and side events I’ll skip the 2,000-person conference for a 20-person breakfast any day. No booths, no noise — just real people and real context. → Use event curation newsletters I love Supermomos newsletters for finding quality events. Way better than scrolling Eventbrite or Luma for hours. → Don’t stack your day One meaningful event > three mediocre ones. You’ll actually have energy to follow up. Result: I stopped collecting just LinkedIn connections and started landing real leads. And I couldn’t have pulled it off without my assistant — from outreach, to prep, to managing all the behind-the-scenes ops. Great networking starts with choosing the right rooms. And remember: not all events are created equal. Some open doors. Some just fill your calendar. What’s your approach to event strategy?