Aron Schoenfeld

On any given night in New York City, there are 3 to 4 events that seem to be appropriate for me to attend. I can only imagine that for others, the number is either about the same, or even greater. Over the past few years, sites like Meetup and Eventbrite have made it easier than ever before for people to create events. Regardless of the content, the goal for most attendees is to network and meet others that share their interests. The challenge is, with the cost of the events and the time commitment to attend, how do you pick the right event to attend so that you meet the right people.

Advertising is always deceptive, especially when it comes to events. Organizers claim to have groups of 11,000 members or show a list of attendees, many of which they added themselves. While this gives you a feel for the community or event, it doesn’t tell you what you really need to know: how meaningful and relevant is to you. Just like each event has a specific purpose, you should be going in with a specific purpose and a goal to achieve it. These goals can be as broad as meeting the most people to meeting a specific person. They could be focused on hearing a particular speaker or trying to learn about an industry. Based on these goals, which may vary from event to event, you will be able to get an idea of which events you should attend.

I recently posted on Gplus asking people what they look for when searching for an event to attend. A few people commented that it is based upon who is going to be there and recommendations from friends. While I agree with these wholeheartedly, my question is more about how do you evaluate the attendees or recommendations since no two people have the same goals. Unfortunately, you often have to find out the hard way that an event isn’t for you. But even then, making the best of it can turn it into a productive night.

Three of the things I think are essential to picking an event to attend are:

Price – I am always wary of free events for two reasons. The first is that everyone signs up but not everyone attends so you never know who will actually be there. Secondly, it doesn’t create a filter where someone who shouldn’t be attending says that they aren’t going to pay to go since it’s the wrong events. A small Read more…

Networking is an essential function of any entrepreneur. It is one of the factors that make entrepreneurs not just people with ideas but part of a larger community that is always willing to help each other, make introductions and create partnerships. Investors realize this as well and are very active in the networking space either through attending events, participating by speaking or being on a panel at an event or even by sponsoring events. While networking events have evolved over the years, at the end of the day, most people are there to meet others and build their network.

As more and more groups pop up in a city via Meetup, LinkedIn, Facebook or their own websites, many of these organizers realize that they need to create events to bring their groups together so it is not just another social forum, but rather a real community. Over the last three years, we have seen an abundance of Read more…