Property Week's 1st Friday CLUB and Young Entrepreneurs in Property ("YEP") event took place against the backdrop of panoramic views across London on the ninth floor of sponsor's Taylor Wessing LLP's impressive new offices at 5 New Street Square.
On 6 March I was fortunate enough to take part in the evolution of 'Speed Dating' to 'Speed Networking'.
Having attended a speed dating night before I was eager to find out how successfully this would translate to the professional sphere. The format was very similar with approximately 100 people sitting across tables from each other and then each person moving to the next table along every time the buzzer went after 3 minute intervals.
Overall, the evening was a real success. The forced and speedy circulation of these events is inevitably hit and miss but the organisers attracts high calibre professionals and there was a good mix of architects, property investors, agents and lawyers.
I was surprised when one or two participants expressed disappointment at the lack of 'decision makers' in attendance. However, this seems to slightly miss the focus of the event as most of the participants look set to be decision makers of tomorrow and meeting and developing contacts at this earlier stage is easier and can ultimately be far more beneficial than limiting networking scope to executive only.
The main benefits from the speed networking portion of the evening were an avalanche of new business cards to sift through and a series of cut to the chase conversations in the hope of finding useful new contacts. Once the event part of the evening finished there was then opportunity to follow up with these contacts over a less time pressured drink and no buzzer to interrupt the laying of foundations for a successful business relationship in the future. If you haven't attended this type of event before and have the chance then I would definitely recommend going – and quickly!
For more information on Property Week's 1st Friday Club events please contact Alex Hanly on +44 (0)20 7921 8268 or email: alex.hanly@ubm.com
For more information on YEP London events please contact Charlie Rosier on +44 (0)20 8455 3999 or email crosier@groveworld.co.uk
For sponsorship opportunities please contact Gary Williams on +44 (0)1204 595 046 or email gwilliams@cmpi.biz
Go to: propertyweek.com/1stfriday
1st friday pics from Cardiff
About 100 chartered surveyors, lawyers, planners and project managers attended Property Week’s 1st Friday CLUB at Glo Bar in Cardiff.
Matt Williams, who won the Young Property Personality of the Year for Wales in 2008, was guest speaker. Williams, who founded the Welsh office of Malcolm Hollis, the building surveying company consultancy, advised his young audience to take the initiative by coming up with business ideas during difficult economic times, rather than to wait for inspiration to come from the top.
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