A Failed Experiment to Network Differently

How I did it and the unexpected benefits of it failing.

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The Making of the Idea-Experiment

My friends and colleagues know I am a juggler. My capacity to juggle many projects is high. It’s the gift and curse of being a person with a lot of big ideas and manifesting generator (IFKYK).

A few months ago I planned a trip to Miami for my Mom’s birthday. I found out the POSSIBLE marketing conference, a huge 3-day event, was happening the same week. Unsurprisingly, I wanted to attend and connect with interesting people.

They didn’t have many panels on leadership, so I pitched speaking at their event. Got zero responses. First fail.

So I reached out to friends who’d attended to understand what it was like. They said there’s tons of events inside and outside the conference. Lunches, dinners, pop-ups, open panels. It’s like Cannes Lions, just being there exposes you to people.

The strategist in me wanted more info. Who was sponsoring? What kind of people and companies attend? Where were side events and who was doing them?

What I found was: there were more B2B Adtech & Martech startups than brands.

This made me realize lot of attendees were NOT my people. My kind of creative people were there but I wasn’t sure where.

Pause. Reflection time. What do I really want to get out of this? What’s my goal when I am only going for a day? Why do I want to network and connect?

You see, I got so excited by lucky timing of being in town that I got swept away by it. I had to slow down to check myself. Slow down to get really honest about my why. This is where self awareness becomes a useful skill.

I realized my goal of connecting was to listen and learn.
Start building relationships. Learn how creative folks in the industry were doing, how they were navigating current shifts and uncertainty.

The Experiment and Not So Good Results

I had 3 things that built a framework for my idea-experiment and 1 week to do it 🙃 🤪

1. My purpose: connect with people to listen and learn

2. The audience: creative + brand people at an adtech-dominated conference

3. The constraints: low effort (1-2 weeks to create and promote it), easy to attend/do from the conference, high value for attendees, can be done in one morning or afternoon

My clarity led me to two ideas that feel very me. They represent my values.

• A Morning for Creatives, a gathering where folks can start the day off away from the conference bustle with good coffee and conservation with like-minded folks.

• A lunchtime roundtable for executives leading through change

There was a bit of fear around these idea-experiments because it was last minute, it was in a city where my network is low, it was during a moment when people were busy. I had to let go of any attachment to the outcome if I wanted to enjoy the process.

When I looked at the two ideas, my rational brain said #2 is more effective while #1 is easier to make happen. So I stopped being rational and went emotional.

How did I feel about these ideas? Should I do one or none?

And #1 felt good, it FELT FUN. I was energized by it. Then I thought, what will make this gathering good enough by my standards? A tasty coffee spot within walking distance with chill ambiance.

With one week before the conference, I found a place, designed a poster on Canva, created a LinkedIn Event and started posting and invited 50+ people.

I even DM’d creative folks attending and speaking at the conference to invite them. Here’s what it looked like.

The results: 7 people signed up. 1 showed up.

The Unexpected Benefits of My Failed Experiment

It sounds like such a blow. Only one person showed? And someone you knew?

Yes, but one had a great conversation with and shared the rest of the day with.

But as I sat there alone with my coffee not knowing if anyone would come, posting on LinkedIn that I was there, I felt satisfied. I felt proud.

The process of getting self aware of my motivation and goal, creating something that aligned and excited me, and offering value to my community created a sense of pride even if it was a fail.

I didn’t expect that. I thought it might feel embarrassing. But here I am writing about it publicly on the internet!

→ Benefit 1: Creating something aligned with me and feeling proud of it.

Turns out people didn’t have to attend for conversations to start.

As I invited people and some said they couldn’t make it, conversations began. As I checked in on those who RSVP’d, conversations continued.

Connection was in play before the gathering even started.

Attendance KPIs were low but they don’t count all online conversations and new relationships with interesting people I have now. For example, I spoke with 2 of the above speakers and are connected with 3 of them.

This idea-experiment WAS the conversation starter. People wanted to connect simply because I showed up with something they were interested in. And as I talked to people at the event, or ran into those I invited, it was the thing we talked about first. I was no longer a stranger.

→ Benefit 2: This experiment was the conversation starter.

I learned that people are interested in this type of gathering. They told me this in DMs and 7 RSVPs one week before is a signal.

I also learned some practical things to make the event better like not only using LinkedIn but Luma. Starting earlier. Etc.

This is something that I can also do at any conference, event or just at home in Amsterdam. In the end, I connected and learned. My goal was accomplished.

→ Benefit 3: I learned by doing and want to do this again.

So the next time you have an idea-experiment but you hesitate from fear of failure or embarrassment, worry what others might thing, doubt if it’s good enough, slow down.

Slow down long enough to orient yourself and ground your idea in purpose and values. Slow down so if it doesn’t come out how you planned you learn and are proud.

We’re creative people. We were meant to create and try things. It’s fulfilling and opens doors for you too.

What small idea-experiment would you like to try? Let me know in the comments.

-M