This past Friday I hosted my first Blitz Time event. Because I wanted it to be informal I billed it as a virtual cocktail party as opposed to a networking event. BYOB. Using this new online technology each person was given a chance to interact one-on-one with other attendees. This is something like speed dating but also not unlike a typical face-to-face networking event or party where you chat with someone for a few minutes then move on to another conversation with a new person.

Some of you who could not attend have asked me for a follow-up. Some of you did not ask for a follow-up but here it is anyway. After a bit of a rocky start on my end the party took off pretty well. The glitches were primarily due to the fact that I was not familiar with the hosting console and is the reason I wanted to do this test run. The picture of my nachos and beer was a big hit. What good is a party without food and drink.

We had 7 people in attendance including branding expert Tom Gosche, the “Marketing Wizard” Dvorah Lansky, clinical therapist Wes Salsbury, videographer Bob Solomon, financial advisor Shetel Shah, Joyce McGee of Let’s Talk Trade Shows, and Me (author of “Turn Your Business Card Into Business”). Thanks also to Kitty Gilbert and Peggy Kimmey who signed-up but had last minute conflicts. This was an eclectic group and everyone commented that they enjoyed meeting each other and enjoyed the format. Because it was a small group everybody got a chance to have five minutes one-on-one time with all but one person. Seven people, six pairings – – you do the math.

Now that I have the experience of hosting an event I will be setting up a few business specific events but I am planning to continue this idea of a monthly Cocktail Party / Happy Hour. If anyone has any ideas of a better time let me know. Fixed time every month or floating happy hour? Thanks for your interest and thanks again to those who helped me test out this technology. The consensus is this is a keeper. Anyone who wants to checkout the demo, go here Blitz Time. Blog Home