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Business Cluster Development and B2B Networking
Our colleague in Europe, Phil
Eadon, has developed technology for B2B networking events which can be
used to automatically coordinate the scheduling of private introductory
meetings between corporate executives, professional service providers, and economic development
professionals at networking events or trade shows. This
independent service for events of all sizes can make it much
easier to introduce relevant contacts efficiently. It can support
global, regional, or local B2B networking and cluster development
initiatives. |
Please
contact us as above if this service might be of interest to you.
We also welcome suggestions about how to make this service
most useful for your purposes, and specific events at which this service
would potentially be of interest. Please let us know about
events on your schedule at which you
would like to arrange introductory B2B meetings, and the types of meetings
which would be of interest at such events. We can apply the
Partners4Technology cluster and company networking model to many areas and
events, or can do custom work in support of events, such as to handle the
pre-scheduling of meetings. |
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Know where and when to meet the professionals privately
For example, we can coordinate the scheduling of personal
introductory meetings at a major event which multiple consultants may choose
to attend.
They can simply indicate their expected availability to
meet during the days of the event, which can be readily updated for any
schedule changes, and then participants in this process can request
meetings. This complements our capability to organize Tour events as
familiarization trips for consultants or executives to visit a location of
interest. |
Finding the "needle in a haystack" at major events
Major trade shows may have 1,000 - 20,000 or more attendees.
CoreNet Global summits in the USA have around 3000 attendees. Even
events with under 1000 or a few hundred or less attendees still present
complex personal scheduling challenges for the attendees.
It can be hard to identify who would be relevant to meet,
and meet them. Opportunities can be missed simply because potentially
relevant contacts never connect. They can literally be in the same
room together and never introduce themselves to each other. |
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Personal meeting schedules driven by mutual interests
The system provides each participant with a personal meeting
schedule. This addresses the complexity of networking many
professionals with other people according to requests from those who would
like to meet them. This is somewhat analogous to air traffic control -
getting everyone efficiently to the right place at the right time to meet
and do business together.
This can make networking events more productive for all of
the participants involved. |
Independent work, or in direct cooperation with event
organizers We can provide this service in
cooperation with event organizers, but we can also perform the necessary
personal networking and scheduling work independently. The event
organizers create and market the event, bringing relevant contacts together
in one venue.
Our service can help the participants at those events to
connect efficiently with people they want to meet. This adds value to
participation in such events by improving the networking process. |
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Meet at the specified Meeting Point - wherever it is.
Typically, we would have a designated Meeting Point at the
event for convenience, but the venue can also be individually specified -
such as to schedule meetings at specific trade show booths, meeting rooms,
hospitality suites, restaurants, offices, or other appropriate locations.
The amount of time to be scheduled for a meeting is also
flexible, and time can be blocked out to reflect prior commitments. |
Attract other relevant event attendees to the Meeting
Point In addition to the pre-scheduling of
private meetings according to the advance identification of mutual interests
and availability to meet at a specific event, the "Meeting Point" service
can also help to raise the visibility of all the participants in this
service at an event, such as those who did not know about or take advantage
of the advance scheduling of meetings.
There may be thousands of people at a large event, but
promotion of a common Meeting Point can become a focal point to attract
others who are relevant to this niche market and the interests of the
participants. For example, at a major trade show that might include a
special meeting room, hospitality suite, or booth area associated with this
service. |
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Other marketing services can help attract relevant
meetings This work can also be coordinated with
other event marketing services, such as to proactively contact a "target"
group of executives or service providers about meeting at such events, and
to promote the availability of this service as a way for them to efficiently
network at the events.
For example, the technology was developed primarily as a
tool to help executives to network with other executives at B2B partnering
events such as those found in various technology sectors.
Our work as a "concierge" referral service to introduce
executives and business advisors to relevant professional service providers
and economic development organizations can help to arrange valuable
introductions. The "response-oriented" search process through our
websites (this one and
www.gdi-solutions.com ) empower executives to quickly and easily
search for contacts who may be relevant to their
interests in this niche market. See also :
Event
Recall and Event Search as
well as Ad
Recall |
Our marketing work is
targeted according to the priorities of participants
The Meeting Point service can be promoted for months in
advance of a major event, both through direct contact with expected event
attendees or "targeted" individuals as well as through more
response-oriented processes such as our main website at
www.gdi-solutions.com, this
website, targeted advertising, PR work, collaborative marketing activities,
networking and other work.
The scope of such activities depends upon the interests of
the Meeting Point participants.
This work can also be integrated with the websites of
participants. For example, participants can provide a link from their
websites or promotional e-mails to a specific page which enables the contact
to request a meeting - which is not limited to one specific event since
multiple available dates for meetings can be specified (such as for multiple
trade shows). Event organizers which agree to offer this service to
attendees can also make it easy to opt into the use of these Meeting Point
service as part of their event promotion and registration process. |
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The BizNet scheduling tool for B2B meetings has other uses
Economic development organizations, chambers of commerce,
executive clubs, and trade or professional associations often organize B2B
networking events to bring their members or special interest groups
together.
This scheduling service can complement such events as a
way for participants to indicate their networking interests in advance and
develop a pre-scheduled personal agenda of potentially relevant introductory
meetings. We can therefore work not only with major event organizers
(trade shows or large associations), but also with smaller local or regional
business networking events.
Contact Phil Eadon in
the UK or
Bruce Donnelly in the USA to discuss such services. |
Examples from recent B2B networking events
Two recent B2B networking events which
Phil Eadon has helped to organize are :
www.intertech2005.com
InterTech 2005, near Berlin Germany
www.intertech2004.com
InterTech 2004, in County Durham, northern England
These involved the pre-scheduling of several hundred
introductory meetings. His service is also described through InterTech
Global Alliance and Partners4Technology.
www.intertechga.com
www.partners4technology.com
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