Transcript: Event Ninja Podcast: The Power of Business Matchmaking & Human Connection

Thank you. so here we are welcome to hello alina welcome to the event ninja podcast where we uncover the secrets of event management today i have a topic that is really close to my heart and if you are event professional should be also close to yours business matchmaking and the power of human connection and today with me is galina bankova founder and relationship architect at the matchmakers welcome hello once again sorry for interrupting you before i was just so exciting excited to say hi Wonderful, wonderful. No, it's, you know, this is something that is really close to my heart, as I said, and I'm so excited to have you in this podcast because, you know, for the past twenty five years, I'm traveling around the world. I started speaking at events, exhibiting at events and really twenty five years, countless events. But if you asked me what I remember from those days. Top three things. Definitely everyone will say knowledge and experience and all this stuff. But the human connection. I remember people I met. I remember ideas we developed together. And every time when I meet a person that really clicks and the spark is there, I kind of have a defining moment and my life changes. But what I also discovered, just going to event, just walk around randomly, you know, spread your business cards. This is not how it works. The real thing is when you meet the right person at the right moment, everything is better. It's a private life. It's also in business. But how to do this on an event? You know, they have events with eight thousand people. And then you go there and say, OK, let's pick up those fifteen that I want to meet. Really precious. This is so cool. Then you meet the right person. But how to meet the right person and what is the concept of matchmaking? That's why you're here. And I hope you can help us understand what is business matchmaking. No pressure. If I may, I would like to ask you first, what is the last event that you visited that you remember and you really enjoyed? Well, I was really troubled. I was traveling a lot. I enjoyed two events. Really, I was in Amsterdam, World AI Summit. Why I enjoyed this? The actual experts came so i was really enjoying there but it was a really messy event in a way how we interacted it was not well organized so i needed someone like you to um actually um get me in touch with someone that I wanted to talk to. And the other event was, we were exhibiting in London. And ATL, Event Tech Live, with event organizers. Totally different. You have World's AI Summit, where everything is online. Nobody's having business cards, nothing. And you have Event Tech Live, where it's really standard, where you talk to the people in a very different way. Very different events, but I kind of remember both of them. Awesome. So I will get back to your question then. And I will start by saying that I have been doing different events for the past twenty years. And those have been many different events, but most of them have the core that they bring people together in terms of them improving their life and mostly their professional life. And it happened very organically that I started seeing, first of all, I started seeing rooms and ecosystem in those rooms. Meaning that every event, no matter where it takes place, is organic. virtual room or a physical room and in in that room i see an ecosystem the ecosystem is built out of different target groups nothing new so far and within those target groups like small islands in the room i see the people and every person is not just a person representing the target group, but I see literally around their head and body, I see small bubbles representing all the resources that they bring with them. And those resources are, for example, the knowledge, the know-how, the experience, the products and services that they represent, the companies they represent, all the organizations that they represent and are part of, also the network that they have. And when one such a person with all the different resources is in a room with another and another and another, I get greedy in a positive way. my mind explodes then and starts seeing the connections among those people. And then it's just a matter of finding the right way to let them know what kind of connections could be there and also manage those connections and see if people are interested into making something out of the connections. So this is basically the first part of the matchmaking and how I came to doing it. But, you know, it sounds like magic. Do you have some magic secrets that you're not telling us? Love people. And my type of love for people is to enabling them to get to the next level by mingling with others and by getting inspiration and resources from other people and then vice versa. So this is my sort of love for people. And then why or I will tell more about what I do and why I call it business matchmaking and how it can help other people as well. Is it okay, Damir? Yeah, definitely. Please. Okay, so what I have been doing for the past ten years now is to help event organizers. I also do my own networking events, but for the past ten years, I help event organizers to set up networking formats for their attendees. And attendees are all the different target groups. And the way I do it is together with the event organizer, we set up a concept which consists of preparing a matchmaking team. And this matchmaking team comes to the event. We built something similar to a reception desk at a hotel, also similar to lobby in a hotel. And then this is the central point where we can be there for all the attendees, be approachable, reachable for them, for any kind of help. I'll get back to it in a minute. Then we set up different matchmaking formats, which can be connected to technology or not. They're connected to technology, then we need all the attendees to input their data and then to make something out of the data and we as matchmakers are basically the facilitators for the attendees to use the data other formats which are not that much technology based are for example speed dating Let's say for founders who want to meet investors or employers who want to meet people looking for a job or for co-founders, for example, or current employees and future customers. So for this, we have two target groups and we bring them together to have a lot of short conversations in, let's say, an hour. Then we have networking walls, physical networking walls, which are a great addition and even substitution to an app, to a technology-based platform. data for searches and offers that people have and we also offer different round tables for bringing people together discussing a topic and connecting around the topic and guided tours if it is an exhibition or a venue that can be visited so and in that overall let's call it a flower bouquet What is our USP is that we have a team of matchmakers. Those can be three, thirty, up to eighty matchmakers per project. And we have the knowledge about who is going to be participating, who is going to be exhibiting, speaking, what is the setup of the event in terms of content, all the activities. and what kind of people are visiting. And because the matchmakers are business professionals, entrepreneurs and so on as well, we put ourselves in the shoes of the attendees and we can meet them where they are. so uh basically we solve one problem that i consider to be out there which is a person goes to an event they have a what they want to do at the event like visit workshops lectures get leads or meet potential partners, find jobs, whatever they want to do. And there is always this first problem. Where do I start? How do I combine all my goals, all my challenges so that I can use the time that I have, the energy that I have and other resources that that I have? And this is this is where I believe the the matchmaking comes as a real benefit is to have a place, people or a team and technology that they can meet the attendee as a person and help them get matched to the information which is relevant, the people who are relevant, the companies that are relevant, the event contents like workshops, for example, booths, so that at the end, our person, the hero visiting, can get to the next step so that they can transform from A to B during that event. Yeah. I need to grill you on some things. This is super interesting. But I collected a lot of questions because there's event organizers, event professionals listening to this. And they did not come here to see you and me. They want to have some benefits. And the benefit are the insights we have. And as you said, we can organize this and that. Well, I can do it too. So I can organize a networking cocktail hour after my expo. So half an hour, I will invite anyone. Simple, something to drink. Why do I need you? What is the benefit of matchmaking instead of just us now? You don't need me. And I really hope and I believe in a future where every organizer can do what we do currently. The issue is that I don't see it happening very, very often. And I'll share a couple of thoughts on that. For example, when we talk about a cocktail or a flying buffet, one hour time for mingling. The main issue is that something is happening, but no one knows what exactly. We as people, especially on a stressful day, and an event day is always a stressful day, no matter how fun it is, we need to know what is happening, who is who, who is doing what, what are the different roles of the people. This is why such a networking part during the event, after the event, can work very well if even one person gathers everyone and gives kind of instructions. And by instructions, I mean, for example, greeting everyone, saying what is about to happen. invites people with a call to action. For example, go to your left and talk to one person. Then after five minutes, talk to the next one. And in this way, we create the room, the framework, the rules with that, the culture for that program slot. And we create the rules, no matter how basic they are. And with that, we give permission to people to move around, to talk to new people. And we encourage them and we enable them. Because no matter that we are all adults, and no matter how smart we all are, and even the extroverted ones, it always takes some energy to move around the room. Yes, definitely. Every organizer, I believe this is something that everyone can do and should do. And please do it. You don't need me for that, even if I'm very happy to help. Just create the room with the rules and the culture. Give the people a task to do. And then they'll do it and then they'll leave the networking part with results. May I add something, Damian? Yeah, please. Because if you don't do it, this is what happens. People stay talking to the people from their team or to the neighbors, to the people that they randomly met, which very often can be positive as well and very impactful, very nice. But maybe in eighty five percent of the time it's not. But people don't feel like interrupting a conversation or going to the other part of the room or interrupting a group. So this is why they need you to facilitate the room, the rules for that networking cocktail. That's what I wanted to hear, because you asked me about the event and this would be AI Summit. No, World Summit AI. It's a very difficult name. I don't know why. It's World Summit AI. There was no matchmaking. But the owner of the conference did a keynote. And in the middle of the keynote, she asked everyone to stand up. There was a couple of thousand people. We stand up. And she said, introduce yourself to the person next to you, left or right, depending if you know the person or not. It should be a stranger. So if you are with your people, don't do it. And everyone was like, I should talk to, why should I talk? Anyway, in my case, I spoke to a very nice person next to me and ended up learning that this is a product owner of booking.com. So it was super interesting for me because I was traveling a lot. So I started giving him feedback and he said, oh, this is super feedback. Let me write it down. Basically, it was a matchmaking thing. But my question to you would be out of those conversations, hundred options that we could do for event organizer what would you say what were what are the most rewarding most successful approaches where you pick a few things that they could start doing as you said they should do it but what should they do small steps first It's a wonderful example that you just gave and it confirms my attitude that the best way of enabling networking and matchmaking are even the free, like no budget measurements that you can do. Activities like telling people what to do in the right way, in the right setup. So thank you for that example. What from my experience works the best, no matter the setup, no matter the target group, no matter the size of the audience is speed dating. Because it doesn't really matter if you have five, fifty, five hundred or five thousand people. They came to this event because they want to meet other people. So with a little bit of effort, you can put them in pairs or in groups of three and moderate small conversations. And the probably bigger, even bigger benefit of it is not only the contacts that happen there, but you You activate the people. They do. They experience a success. They experience being part of something cool and active and dynamic. And they feel that they belong there, that they have a purpose, they have something to do. And especially if they talk to at least three to four people, they get into a very nice speed and rhythm and dynamics. And then you make them ready for the other part of the day or the evening. This is the first thing that it works really every time. The second format that is very simple to implement and it brings extraordinary results is to have a place where there are real people who act as concierge, so to speak. Of course, all the events have their info counter, but the info counters nowadays, they don't work for attendees. We should make another episode only on that. Do people need in order to be an info desk at an event? But if you have a designated, let's say, matchmakers who are there and everyone can approach them, it helps so many people because For example, we at Bits and Pretzels, we have seven thousand attendees at the event and a team of eighty matchmakers. Those eighty matchmakers talk to at least one hundred attendees per day, so to speak. Imagine the number of attendees that we can reach and we help them make the next step. in this way we help them create a plan on what to do at the event this way people release their stress they are more open to listening to seeing to having a real conversation going deep into conversation and then seeing synergies and creating partnerships. So for this, have a person or a team who is approachable for the attendees. This is the second format. And the third and last that I want to mention is to have a place like in Germany, we say or a network where people can put on paper who they are, what they offer and what they are looking for. This also works like a charm. Yeah, I saw this in Munich last time and even wrote something on it. It was booked out at nine o'clock. I was there at nine. They said eight forty five. The last place was booked out. Obviously, the people enjoy that and they want to meet others. This is something different. You meet the registration for the speed dating sessions. Yes, yes, exactly. And the other, yes. A place where anyone can put any sort of offerings and searches at any time. By the way, this is the place where we get the best feedback for matches that happened. many people come to events again and again and then they say that last time or last year they met their investor they found a job they found an employee or a co-founder or they found a photographer moderator for the event even apartment like many different things yeah in the uh You know, people are very, very different. And some people are born networker. You don't need to help them. They just put them somewhere and like five minutes later, they're best friends with everyone. There are different people. There are other people who are not capable of doing that. So they even get the chance to speak to someone and then what should i say how should i say and do you think that event organizers need to do something to match those people properly and to allow them to transfer the because you know at the end of the day it needs to be a perfect match but how can you get a perfect match In my opinion, you can only facilitate potential matches and you never know where the perfect match is hiding and when it's going to happen, because very often you meet today, but then it needs two years until your next touch point and then something happens. And introverted people so i come back to the facilitated and location-based opportunities this can also be something that you do at the beginning of the event for example if your event starts at nine thirty organize uh gathering at nine or nine thirty for people who want to come and get kind of an orientation or meet a group and together with that group start exploring the event This is one thing that every organizer can do. And it's enough if you do it at the time point of the opening doors. Another thing that you can do is you can organize pre-briefings or pre-meetups on the day before your event starts to organize something for the different target groups, for example. Explain to them the journey that they can do. And nowadays also empowered by AI, but explained by a real person. But what I want to say with that is there is that introverted person and you need to give them time and place where to be and a person to turn to. and a group to join. And from there, they can start the event experience in a very different way. And I have observed introverted people so often. And by the way, part of me is also very introverted. And this is one of the reasons why I do what I do. I'm solving my own problem. So I have seen introverted people change after they have a body to be there. because even if they just met, they're basically strangers, but they're there together. And person A can introduce person B to the exhibitor at the booth and vice versa. So always make sure that there is a meeting point, person to turn to and a time to be there so that from there people can start their event journey. yeah so to sum up you need to moderate you need to uh provide the environment where those ecosystems can actually interact and you need to uh push the people a bit and now this big topic is coming you mentioned it and i'm also working on that at run events we are pretty strong in ai because we try to automatize everything that is done manually so you should not do manual work like you lost your badge you say to ai i need a new badge i'm exhibitor and the ai will say go to the counter five it's already printed waiting for you oh thank you don't have to but um do you think that ai can just uh replace us yeah i sent my ai to your ai so that they can discuss what is the future from your point of view Well, I'm a huge fan of AI and I believe that it is going to make our work much easier and it will help us focus on the human based tasks, activities, potential that only we can realize. But of course, it depends on how we use it and the value we give to it. But very similar to when the washing machine was invented or when the computer was invented at first we need to find our way around it but to sum it up i believe that ai is only going to help us and those who way or rely only on ai they're going to create such events that people can smell that there is no no human energy behind it and maybe they'll go once but they will never come back to Yeah, that's true. And with AI, what I'm trying to achieve as well, I think, is AI can help us prepare us better. Because if you ask the people, what are you looking for? That's a great thing that I learned as I was speaking at one event, and the managing director of the biggest dating site in Germany was speaking there as well. And he sat next to me. So after his speech, I asked him how he can do it. Because you look for the new partner, And whenever someone asks you who you look for, you say, okay, romantic works at the beach, Netflix and chill, blah, blah, blah. Nobody wants that. This is just what everyone says. So they developed a very strong approach with huge number of algorithms. to find out what you actually want. Now, they ask you different things, and then they figure out what you want. I think in business is the same, you know, you're not really saying the right thing. So it's very hard to match. Perhaps AI can help us, you know, learn more about ourselves in a very funny way. through interactive questionnaire and also on the event, reacting to the things that are happening. So I had this meeting, but now the AI realized that there is some new things and then proposed me some new stuff. Nevertheless, human touch is there as well because connecting just to people is not enough. But I think I'm with you. AI will definitely help us with that if we do it in a proper way. I hope we do it. And from your point of view, yeah, sorry. just to jump on it, because there is a bottleneck on AI being able to match us. It's the database that we humans provide. As you said, we don't always know what we actually need and look for. We don't have the time. We don't have the patience to input data. And very often, what an AI can't know is what is between the lines. And for this, we need to put in a lot of work so that we can find the AI or tech solution for making people input the right data and enough data for the great matchmaking. Well, for me, I did learn a lot. And in two weeks, we're exhibiting again in London, a different conference at the Expo. And I will definitely make sure to implement some of your great advices. We will also showcase our approach. But from your point of view, what would be your call to action to our audience? Try setting up networking rooms. And I mean, it doesn't need to be a specific venue, but try setting up a time and a place. Welcome everyone. Tell them something about you as a host, them as a target group, and make them do something together. Like you said, Damir, before, talk to one person. Or talk to one person and make sure that you can write a LinkedIn article about them. But make them do one thing. This is the best networking activity that you can do. And Damir, let's continue our conversation one-on-one because I'm curious about your next event. And I have ideas for your expo booth as well. Wonderful. Well, that's wonderful thoughts for the end. We made a great connection in this talk. This is how it works, guys. I invite you to get in touch with Galina and discuss this. Try what we discovered and developed in two weeks. If you're in London, visit us on Confex. But other than that, thank you, Galina. It was an amazing talk. I did learn so much. We are also in time. It's amazing. Do you have some final thoughts that you would like to share with our audience from your side? Let's continue the conversation and maybe share matchmaking experiences, networking experience on a place that you and Run Events set up. That would be awesome because now I enjoyed our conversation a lot, but I miss... having other people around and discussing real cases because this is where the real magic happens. So this is my call to action. Let's set up a place for us all to discuss real cases and this way change the event world to the better. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Kalina. I hope people will jump on this and I will definitely follow up. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Bye-bye.