Getting the most out of every event & mingle

What to do when you feel like a cat among ermines? An introvert among extroverts? An unknown face among 30-under-30 people? 🥵

First things first: I'm an introverted extrovert, I love events but can become shy if I don't feel comfortable or not prepared. I've come to love the pulse of mingling and events, but it has taken practice.

The Tech Arena is just a few days away, and I’ve seen a lot of people asking on LinkedIn for tips & tricks to make the most out of it.

Here's my reminders to myself - no gatekeeping, but a few actionable tips.

🔍 Scan the internet for people you’d like to meet on beforehand.

If feeling brave: note down their faces/names, try to see if you can spot them during the day - and go say hi! 👋

If not feeling brave: connect with them on (for example) LinkedIn with the following message, and try to schedule a fika! It will be so much easier to mingle if you already know who you will mingle with 😉

And how do you find them, then? I often use word searches on LinkedIn as my to-go-to, or use the platform provided if they have one.

This is along the lines I would write (you can steal it right away);

🤝 Go together with someone, but mingle alone (or at least in a pair).

I know this is maybe a tip that makes some of you squirm. Having someone you know there that you can have as your safe space when you need it can be amazing when you need to charge some mingle batteries 🪫

I'm a super shy & self conscious person if you peel the Amalia-onion and get to my core, but I also know a lot of other people feel shy too. Hence, I like to waltz up to people that stand alone and say hi, and ask how their day has been so far.

When I was at DI Gasell-galan (which I STILL don't kind of understand how I got invited to, haha), I came nervous and alone - and left with some newfound friends.

If you need a "go together"-partner or mingle buddy, hit me up ✋

👀 Stressing around, trying to fit everything in, won't give you more

I've been at the political week in Almedalen for 5 years now and I still never learn. I jam pack my days with panels, coffees, walk'n'talks and what not. I'm so scared to miss any important crumbs 🍪

Problem is, I become a really bad listener when all I think about is "I got ten more minutes here, then I gotta run". To others, and to myself. And when asked to summarize my experiences, it's always blank as a canvas in my brain 💭

A tip from the coach (me): have time to stay longer in discussions, reflect on somebody's talk, or just go forth to that speaker and say thanks.

✍️ Have a notebook with you, or write notes in your phone

Along the lines of being asked to summarize experiences - you will be better off if you also give yourself the possibility to remember afterwards 🧠

Whether you're a startup founder being able to report back to your board what value you created, or a sole developer having the opportunity to write a really crispy takeaway post in Slack afterwards - you will get a lot out of your notes.

👋 A lot of events aren't even official - ask where everyone else is going

The maybe most ballsy I've done ever was to write to Petter Stordalen on LinkedIn prior to Almedalen last summer, asking him for a personal invite to his mingle 😅 EVERYONE was going there. It didn't work even though I later got an invite (just not from him), but the lesson stands. Don't be shy, and ask for invites to things!

Even though the official agenda can have a lot of open events, mingles etc, there are also a lot of ad hoc as well as super planned and secret mingles that just a selected few get to attend. It is never wrong to ask, when you meet someone that has gotten an invite, if you can be their plus one 😉

📸 Have a good profile

If you have a different image on the event platform than on LinkedIn, you might be missing out on connections. And if the photo is bad, on either platform (or, god forbids, both of them)? UNO REVERSE.

Why you should have the same picture? Different images makes you so much harder to find outside of the event platform.

Make sure to update your profile with a LinkedIn link too, it makes you easier to find 👋

🔥 Bonus tip: Dress in something bright & colorful

If you want to make it easy for your colleagues and friends to find you - stand out with a dash, sprinkle or a whole bucket of color 🎨

For example, Breakit still features me and my colleagues from SaaS Summit 2022 from time to time. Guess why? We where a bunch of young girls. In the front. In color.

If you'll be at the Tech Arena, or see me at any other event - come say hi! I want to hear everything of what you've learned 👋