Laila: Speed dating is best known for helping find that special someone, but professionally in business, speed networking events can help strike an important professional relationship. Welcome to watchmojo.com, I am your host Laila. Today, I am talking to the director of Meet Market Adventures, Derek Polcyn. Can you tell us a little bit about what the professional and business speed networking event is?
Derek Polcyn: Well first of all it was based on the idea speed dating which has been very popular and this is the same idea that the people come to connect with others in their business sense they are looking for referrals, looking for work, looking for contacts and instead of going to some boring networking functions with people they already know. They are looking for branching out and tapping into pool of people that they have never met before.
Laila: What kind of professionals should consider attending this kind of event?
Derek Polcyn: Everyone who wants to have contacts, so it could be a blue collar, a white collar, accountants, lawyers as well as people that do door repairs because it's like a brainstorming but also saying okay, if you are a lawyer and you need someone to repair your doors, here I am and if I am in an ego trouble and I need a lawyer, here is a lawyer.
Laila: Would you recommend it for people with short term goals, or mid-term or long term goals?
Derek Polcyn: Probably short term but you see relationships, it's not just so much of who you know, but it's also how well you know them and what kind of relationship do you have with them. So relationships take time to develop and this is like a beginning of a short term and moving into long term relationship.
Laila: Why do you keep the group to a small number?
Derek Polcyn: Based on my personal experience, I participated in a 25 dates once it was is a speed dating company and everyone had chance to meet 25 dates, five minutes each and when I got to the end, I did not care anymore if it was a Mother Teresa or Swarchenegger, it did not make sense to me anyway. I think that 16 is the optimum number, so you get to have a chance to meet 15 people and with everyone five to seven minutes.
Laila: What tips do you have for people before they attend a speed networking event?
Derek Polcyn: Very important it's to prepare, so have a list of questions to ask, also when you come, don't expect that you will be just taking, taking, taking, it's a give and take relationship. Business relationships are not so much about competition as corporation. Actually if you look at nature, some people argue that its been the competition and others argue it was a corporation that was stronger and I think in business relationships, its corporation between people which makes things to work more efficiently.
Laila: Thank you very much Derek on behalf of watchmojo.com.
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