San Diego prides itself on quality of life, but a quality tech scene (excluding biotech) has yet to emerge and gain the respect of our Bay Area counterparts. During the last couple of years (and especially the last several months) the San Diego community has been organizing more events ranging from BarcampSD, Refresh, Jelly, SDBloggers, and the SDTweetUp that have helped united our industry and bring us all together.

These events are great opportunities for the organizers to expand their network and get the maximum exposure for the company or brand. But an organizing an event itself isn’t going to make you an overnight success- you will need to consider some important activities before, during, and after your event to have maximum impact.

Having organized a few local events, like the SDBloggers Meetup and Happy Hour 2.0, I thought I would share what I’ve learned along the way:

Before the Event

  1. Find a Co-host (or 2) for the event- many networks are better than one. Share the responsibility and limelight with a like-minded company and your event will be that much better because of it!
  2. Get to know your attendees before the event- check out your RSVPs and invest time in to getting to know your attendees before you get introduced to them.
  3. Promote your event on Mixergy.com, Eventful, Facebook and StartupSD
  4. Tell your attendees how to ‘tag’ your event online- make sure you spread the viral word
  5. Find local groups online, contact the organizer and ask them to promote your event

During the Event

  1. Have a sign-in sheet that includes any applicable social networks- don’t just get names and emails
  2. Name tags are dead and too traditional any way. ‘Twitter handles’ are very much the rage right now. Be sure to sport some form of identification for your guests, but remember to think outside the box. There is nothing that says ‘boring tech event’ like a name tag.
  3. Don’t stress; relax and try to be as personable as possible.
  4. Provide some form of food or drinks. This is just basic. People have come to expect it.
  5. If you are hosting the event, you shouldn’t talk to anyone you already know, period. (Schedule a meeting if you already know them). This time is about connecting with new opportunities.
  6. During the event, get business cards, and be sure to write follow up notes for later- you won’t remember everything. Plus, it makes people feel important when you write down what they say.

After the Event

  1. Send a group email (and/or write a blog post) summarizing the event and thank everyone for their time
  2. Follow up within a week after the event (with everyone), include a personal email and invite them to your social networks with a personalized note
  3. Conduct 1-on-1 follow ups with your best opportunities over lunch
  4. Research LinkedIn profiles before your 1-on-1 meetings- you ought to be familiar with your prospect’s experiences before you meet with them.
  5. Add your prospects to a CRM such as Highrise. Set up follow up reminders for future tasks
  6. Conduct a survey after the event and see how you could improve for next time.

If you’d like to contribute to the growing community in San Diego by hosting your own event, please contact us and we will review your proposal.