Privileged this week to be invited to Stamford Bridge by a bank (that will remain nameless) that had hired some of the ground, including the pitch, for a corporate event. I was lucky to be invited – not least as I sat next to the legendary Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris (who’s very much alive and still kicking!)
Halfway through the evening I realised something: no-one had ‘engaged’ with me – apart from the girl on the front desk and of course the people who I knew there, plus a few that I had approached. Of the large numbers there, a high proportion were staff from the bank (it seemed like a quasi staff do – which is fine of course) and they seemed to spend all night talking to each other ok. I went the whole evening without any of the bankers (some senior, some very senior) asking me what I did or seeking out my business card. Unprompted, an accountant, also there as a guest, asked me if people had lost the skill or desire to engage with others. This was a big spend event and there was a lot of opportunity in the room from people very grateful to be asked – but no-one was exploiting it.
I’m not complaining (if you are reading this thanks for the invite and I am more than capable of talking to people for myself of course) but it prompts the thought:
If you decide to put scarce budget into a hospitality night, how do you set things up to get as much as you can from the event, find out what you can about the people there, collect their contact details etc and follow it up?
If you are holding such an event it really is worth briefing everyone beforehand, setting some objectives and debriefing them afterwards.