Shawn Brook, President of Seed World Group, discusses their new networking event from Aug. 17-21
Networking: a long-time tradition among in-person conferences. It can be done over coffee, over a drink at the bar or even by sitting at a table with strangers at breakfast. It’s easy to do in-person and half the reason why you attend conferences. How can we connect the same way virtually?
“We’ve set up this event for one basic answer: connection,” says Shawn Brook, president of Seed World Group. “These days, that word seems to come up in every conversation I have.”
COVID-19 has upended the industry in various ways, and with the cancellation of multiple in-person tradeshows and conferences, we are not engaging with our contacts and friends we look forward to seeing a few times a year. When you don’t see anyone for a significant period of time, it’s hard to feel like you’re getting that connection.
That’s where Seed World Group steps in.
During the week of Aug. 17-21, Seed World Group is hosting a Virtual Networking Event, because we miss everyone! The networking longue will be open:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 AM CST
Tuesday and Thursday at 4:00 PM CST
“There’s a misconception that you can’t form a connection digitally,” Brook says. “But I don’t think that’s correct. We’ve developed a platform where people can redevelop connections at absolutely no cost. You can connect with anyone — clients, friends, those people you see only once a year at trade shows … Now we can all come together for a chat.”
There are three ways you can connect with peers this week:
- Come use our Meeting Place, where you can host meetings with any registered attendee. Schedule a time, send an invite, and connect. This will be open the entire week, 24-hours a day for you to use at your discretion.
- There are one-hour windows each day where the Networking Longue is open. And at no cost, you can host a table and have your company name on the table as well as your logo. If you’d like to host a table, please email Michelle Klieger by Thursday, Aug. 13 at mklieger@issuesink.com.
- Finally, you can host a table as an attendee! You’d be able to host and jump from table to table. The benefit would be you’d be able to see all the attendees that were online, and you could personalize your networking experience.
“I’m a communications guy,” Brook says. “I’m good at staying in touch with people, but I haven’t met anyone new since February. As a social person, that’s been weighing heavily on me. The way our virtual tables are set up, you’ll have a chance to meet someone new. It’s the same idea of if you were sitting at breakfast or in the hotel bar at a conference.
“You can sit, chat, learn and dive into what makes someone tick … and that’s what makes me most excited about this concept,” he says.
To register for the event, visit this link.
“I’m super excited to be able to bring the first 100 people that register to this networking event — it’s completely free, completely exciting and completely made for networking,” Brook says.
