If you only had 3 minutes to share a bit of information with a stranger about your business, what would you say? According to The Commercial Appeal a recent speed networking event was held at the Better Business Bureau, giving local entrepreneurs the opportunity to share a little bit about their business in 3 minute bites.
At three-minute intervals, Sally Baker-Brenner activated a large plastic frog that emitted a loud “ribbit” and called time for people to shift seats. By the time the exercise was over, most of the entrepreneurs had met and swapped contact information. For those who hadn’t, an open networking session followed.
“The great thing about this is that there’s no need for an icebreaker; people just jump right in from the get-go because the clock is ticking and there’s not a moment to waste,” said Baker-Brenner, administrator for the Small Business Chamber. “It forces entrepreneurs to boil down their mission and target a market and practice getting that message across. The only hard part is getting them to stop talking and move to the next person.”
The speed networking programs are held every couple months, Garner said. The sessions were developed about a year ago in response to the struggling economy, offering a simple way to help small-business owners.
“Every person in this room represents an extended circle of at least 250 business contacts,” Garner said. “The beauty of this is that it’s one hour of free networking that can exponentially increase the scope of an entrepreneur’s client list.”
Photo by jurvetson