Great news, you have narrowed your career transition goal to a specific sector. You’ve done the conversational, informational interviews and have checked the outcomes against your criteria and are prepared to invest the time and effort to find out more. Splendid effort, well done

Now a you’ve found out about a conference all about Alternative Protein / The intersection of fashion and the circular economy / the leverage of AI in SaaS based emissions tracking technology / the [insert your current career plan hypothesis]

But it has been a while since you went to conference where you don’t know much about the field or the participants. Maybe the last time was way back at the start of your career. Remember that, the uncertainty, the feeling like you might be wasting your own time as well as those you speak to?

Well, fear not my friend, in this article we’re going to revisit the basics and give your face to face networking a few up to date tweaks

This guide gives you a simple, actionable plan to walk into your next event confident, prepared, and ready to maximise the return on your time.

We’ll explore what to do before, during, and after the event to ensure you leave with valuable insights and relationships.

Before the Event: Set Yourself Up for Success

How Long Have You Got

Before laying out your plan, take a moment to reflect on how much time you actually have to put into the prep for this. And be realistic, both in terms of your ability to stick to that 90 minutes before the kids wake up every day until event day, AND then amount of work you can get done in said time.

Split the time across ALL the following activities, AKA don’t fall down a researching rabbit hole, look up and realise you are on the train to the event.

Start With the End in Mind

What’s your goal for the event? Typical objectives might include:

1. Expanding your network.

2. Filling specific skills or knowledge gaps.

3. Curating material for a LinkedIn post, blog, or personal reflection.

Spoiler alert - it should include point 3 as default. A simple trick? Use ChatGPT (or similar tools) to draft the format or structure (not the detail) of a blog post or LinkedIn article ahead of time. For example, ask it for a content structure such as:

• “What did I learn?”

• “What surprised me?

• “What action will I take?”

Knowing the framework means you can jot down relevant details during the event for easy post-event content creation.

Research the Key Players (and Fellow Attendees)

Build your knowledge about speakers and other attendees:

• On LinkedIn: Search for the speaker’s posts and comments from the past 30-90 days to uncover their interests, expertise, and communication style.

• On YouTube and Podcasts: Look for recent interviews or panel discussions. These often reveal their unique perspectives and current focus areas.

• Event Hashtags: Check hashtags for the event on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram to find fellow attendees. If you find someone relevant, connect in advance with a short message like:
  “Hi [Name], I saw you’re attending [Event Name]. Looking forward to connecting there—perhaps we can meet up?”

Define Key Questions

Use your research to craft thoughtful questions. These aren’t just for asking the speaker during a session but also for connecting with other attendees after a given session in a relevant and meaningful way. Remember that smart questions are the most powerful connecting tool you have if you don’t have the personal expertise to give an opinion. Examples:

• “In your recent YouTube interview, you mentioned X—how do you see that evolving over the next year?”

• “I’ve been thinking about [specific challenge]. How do you approach that in your role?”

Having specific questions ready makes you stand out in post-session conversations and builds rapport with other attendees.

Prepare Your Toolkit

• Create a digital business card (e.g., a QR code linking to your LinkedIn profile) and set it as your iPhone wallpaper or screensaver for quick access.

• Map out your must-attend sessions and identify key people to meet. But don’t fret too much about hitting your list, remember this plan isn’t there to give you execution anxiety.

• Check the event logistics: location, schedule, venue size, and format (e.g., intimate roundtable or large conference), to give you a feel ahead of time of what you are walking into and to scale your ambitions interms of actually finding someone!

During the Event: Engage Effectively

Stay Agile

Start with a plan but remain flexible—events can be unpredictable. Go with the flow to make the most of spontaneous opportunities. Again, be realistic and take a degree of self compassion into the event with you too. These sessions can be exhausting, especially if face to face events are intimidating.

Stretch out of your comfort zone, but don’t snap.

👆👆👆 are not exactly the words I am looking for here but you know what I mean right? Don;’t hide behind an excuse but don’t beat yourself up if you run out of steam. Better?

Be Strategic With Sessions

Prioritise sessions that align with your goals, ahead of time where possible.

After each session, approach fellow attendees or the speaker with your pre-prepared questions to spark meaningful conversations.
Example: “I loved the point about X—what inspired that approach?”

This is often the challenging it for many people who are not confident in this. The imposter syndrome is real. For help with this check out this EXERCISE: From Imposter To Insider for advice on how to overcome the imposter syndrome and connect more authentically.

Connect With Confidence

1. Use your digital business card to connect instantly. Say:
   “Let’s connect—here’s my QR code to my LinkedIn.”

2. And respond to the connection request on the spot to ensure you have that connection.

3. Another classic ‘overcoming’ technique is to imagine what someone who you think is very good at being well connected would do. “What would X” do is a great push to get you connecting.

Take Real-Time Notes

Capture key details from conversations, including:

1. Names, roles, and organisations.

2. Key discussion points.

3. Ideas for follow-up (e.g., “Send them X article”).

Typically there are gaps in the day, I like to take five minute to just make a physical note about the last few people I’ve met and how I might add value to their mission. Some people love making short voice notes to their phone to speed this up. But in some things I am still old skool

After the Event: Follow Up With Purpose

1. Organise Your Contacts

   • Add them to you networking CRM tool. Wait, what you don’t have one?? OK hang on, click THIS, take one for free. Boom! Bonus contribution!

   • Categorise contacts into “high-priority follow-ups,” “potential collaborators,” and “knowledge resources.”

2. Follow Up Within 48 Hours
   Personalised follow-ups can turn conversations into lasting connections. For example:

   • “Hi [Name], it was great meeting you at [Event Name]! I really enjoyed our conversation about [topic]. Here’s the article I mentioned—looking forward to staying in touch.”

3. Reflect and Share Your Insights

   • Use your pre-planned content structure to write a LinkedIn post or blog highlighting your key takeaways. (Don’t be afraid to ditch the structure in light of what you have learned - the main goal of having the structure in the first place was to give you focus during the event, not to be prescriptive.)

   • Examples:

     • “At [Event Name], I learned three surprising insights about [topic].”

     • “Here’s how [Speaker’s Name] inspired me to think differently about [topic].”

   Sharing your thoughts helps build your professional brand and keeps you top-of-mind with new connections.

4. Plan Next Steps

   • Schedule coffee chats or virtual meetings with high-priority contacts.

   • Keep the momentum going by engaging with their LinkedIn content and staying in touch.

   • Add the ‘important’ connections to a daily content check on LinkedIn and keep that connection alive. Bonus time saving tip for that? Sure - check out this little clip

Your Networking Event Checklist

Here’s a handy checklist to guide your preparation, engagement, and follow-up:

Before the Event
☑ Define your goals (networking, knowledge, content creation).
☑ Use LinkedIn, YouTube, and podcasts to research speakers and topics.
☑ Craft thoughtful, specific questions.
☑ Connect with fellow attendees via event hashtags.
☑ Prepare a digital business card (set it as your phone wallpaper).
☑ Map out key sessions and contacts.

During the Event
☑ Attend sessions strategically and adapt as needed.
☑ Use pre-prepared questions in post-session chats.
☑ Take real-time notes on contacts and key takeaways.
☑ Connect on LinkedIn instantly.

After the Event
☑ Organise your contacts in a tracker.
☑ Send personalised follow-ups within 48 hours.
☑ Write and share a LinkedIn post or blog.
☑ Plan coffee chats or virtual follow-ups with key connections.

Final Thoughts

This can be hard. Face to face is intimidating for many of us. And whilst I have peppered the above with tools, tactics and strategies to help with the practical operations and the mindset shifts I cannot escape the words of my mother :

”Go and enjoy yourself Andy, its no big deal really”.

I’ve taken those words into these events and have consequently grown and built businesses on the back of the meaningful connections I have found at them.

And trust me EVERYONE is feeling a little bit dirty about the cynical nature of ‘networking’ so treat it like the game it is.

By preparing thoroughly, staying flexible, and following up effectively, you’ll turn your next climate networking event into a career-boosting experience.