Went to a 'speed networking' event in Chicago and the organizer brought a literal stopwatch

It was at a co-working space downtown last Thursday. The guy running it had a big red stopwatch and would blow a whistle every 90 seconds to make you switch partners. I got stuck talking to someone who sold industrial glue for 3 rounds in a row because of a seating mix-up. He kept trying to give me a sample tube. Has anyone else had a networking format totally backfire on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica_robinson231mo ago

A literal stopwatch and whistle turns professional networking into a weird corporate gym class! Three rounds about industrial glue sounds like a special kind of torture, honestly. You have to wonder if the seating mix-up was on purpose just to get rid of that sample tube. That event format seems perfectly designed to make everyone feel like panicked lab rats.

ericprice27d ago

Used to think timed networking was a good way to meet more people, but hearing about the glue guy trap changed my mind. That format just forces you into bad small talk instead of letting a real chat happen. Now I see it just makes everyone rush and leaves no room for a useful connection.

stella_lane1mo ago

Jessica_robinson23 is right about the gym class vibe, it sounds like the organizer forgot they were working with adults. The forced rotations with a whistle probably made real conversations impossible, just a bunch of people rushing through their elevator pitch. Getting stuck with the glue guy for three rounds shows how badly these rigid formats can break down.