How do I host a networking event people actually enjoy?

For events, it's much better to build a B2B event about connection than about content. Content is a speaker speaking at you. Connection is people truly getting to know each other, doing fun things and learning from each other.

I'm a huge believer in this. At a newsletter conference I went to, I sat in the conference room for maybe three hours over two days. The rest of the time I was out in the hallway talking to people. That was the valuable part.

What format works better than a speaker?

Do something fun, then talk. If I saw an ad that said business owners with a million-dollar-plus business are playing 18 holes of mini golf in groups of four, then coming back to the hangout area for an hour and a half to network, I'd sign up tomorrow.

Compare that with most peer groups. Once a month you sit around a small office table with six other entrepreneurs and talk about your problems. Talking to peers who want to help you is good. Doing it in a boring office room isn't. I'd much rather go to a dinner, and even better, an event venue.

The activity also gives people an exit. What scares people about events is getting stuck next to someone they don't want to talk to. On a hike, it's easy to say you need to go faster or slower and go talk to someone else.

How do you remove the awkward parts?

Nick Gray wrote a book about hosting events without the problems most events cause. The rules I took from it:

1. Name tags. For anyone who forgets names within three seconds, a name on the shirt removes that fear. Add what the person is interested in, or whether they're an investor, an entrepreneur or looking for a job, so people know what to ask about.
2. Forced rotation. He blows a whistle every 15 minutes and tells people to go talk to someone else. Nobody gets stuck with one person for an hour and a half. You meet six people.
3. A hard end. He says up front it's a two-hour event and he'll kick you out at two hours. Nobody wonders when they can leave.

"He's basically finding the issues upfront and then solving them before they happen."

Who should I invite?

Narrow it down. Imagine doing this for home service business owners in one county. There might be 2,000 or 3,000 of them, and you only want 25 in the room. A speakerless "unconference" someone I know runs draws about 200 people, so the format scales, but small and specific is easier to fill and better to attend.

For social events aimed at young people, build around something they already like doing: a coed hiking group, coed pickleball, coed cooking classes for people in their 20s. If the goal is dating, don't call it a dating event, because then people worry it'll be weird. Someone told me speed dating events got the most clicks by far in their general newsletter, so the demand is there.

How do you pay for it?

Get sponsors to pay for things that normally cost money. Free drinks and dinner are the simple version. Free bowling, or a pickleball place where the sponsor covers the courts, works too. Now people have a reason to go, because they get something valuable they'd otherwise pay for. You can also tell a venue you'll run ads for them in the newsletter for free if they host.

For a free local business owners group, I'd start monthly, then go to twice a month: one fun event and one learning event. If it worked, there could be a paid version later with a second meetup and extra perks. Sharing it with co-founders who bring different skills, like marketing and AI, operations and accounting, makes it far less work.

What's in it for the host?

Being known. The reason I want to do this is that when local business owners know you, everything else comes back to you: newsletter ads, digital marketing, AI help. Things come to you because you're the one bringing people together. To test an event before you commit, see testing a local event without a public flop, and for low-effort meetups, marketing with free events.