January's slow networking meeting
Kicking off the new year with another successful event, Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce welcomed members back to Hastings United Sports and Social Club with a renewed mindset, feeling empowered to hit their business goals at our Chamber meeting focussed solely on networking!
First trialled back in April 2023, this style of meeting encouraged all our members to get to know one another, with a spin on traditional networking. Hastings Chamber is made up of over 160 businesses across a variety of sectors from manufacturing to hospitality, finance to entertainment and more. Despite starting off each monthly meeting with our usual friendly style of informal networking over some breakfast, many members would tend to migrate towards familiar faces, which sparked the idea to create our ‘Slow Networking’ themed meeting.
The way it works is by pairing everyone in groups of three, with a different colour allocated to each person representing which way to move around the space. The idea of this was to take the pressure off and to allow everyone to feel relaxed when participating. 100% of the people that took part in our feedback sent out to attendees following the meeting stated that they made new connections.
But don’t just listen to us! Here’s what our members said when asked “how would you rate this meeting overall?”:
“I enjoyed the method of people sitting in pairs of 3’s. It made networking easier and a fun way to meet new people”
Wave Community Bank
“Relaxed and easy-going atmosphere. Everyone was really approachable”
18 Hours Ltd
“Enjoyed the ‘Slo Mo’ style of networking as it meant you spoke to people you might not have otherwise.”
East Sussex College Group
“Being able to meet more people than would normally do, due to the slow networking format”
insight6
“A most enjoyable and well organised meeting providing an excellent experience of a ‘good mingle’ with other Businesses. Thank you!”
Aldershaw Handmade Tiles
We also had to the chance to hear from Gold Pebble who shared with members our new website, the benefits, and answered questions.
As part of Hastings Chamber’s ongoing mission to improve how we run the show, we’re asking members to suggest places you would like future meetings to be held – leave your suggestions