Three quick and dirty tips for how best to network at games events

Use these tricks to meet the right people

• 1 Target people in pairs

  Okay, let’s kick off with the toppest of the top networking tips, because this one has been personally tested and is confirmed to work at least 100 per cent of the time.

  So you’ve arrived at Pocket Gamer Connects, or GDC, or E3 or even a local game dev gathering, and you want to start spreading your good word among the crowd. Who do you approach first?

  Scan the crowd for people talking in pairs. Those are your targets. You see, there’s a temptation to try and join a crowd or find someone on their own, but pairs of people are more vulnerable (from a friendly networking point of view, that is).

  Approach a crowd of three or more, and chances are you’ll stand there listening to at least two of them carry on the conversation that was going on before you got there, while it’s much harder to break away from someone who was on their own, which you might well want to do. So two is the magic number.

  The theory is this: Two people talking means either they came together and are failing at their own attempts to network by clinging to each other, or two lone rangers hooked up and neither knows how to walk away without looking like a dick.

  So if you interrupt a pair, one of them gets someone new to network with while the other can comfortably leave. Pairs of people actually want you to interrupt them. So hunt down a pair of people you want to network with, and introduce yourself to them both.

  You might be dubious at first, but this genuinely never fails. Try it, and you’ll be working the room like a high-class games hooker in no time.

  
  

• 2 Focus on just one fact

  Networking isn’t just about meeting people for the first time. It’s about establishing a new contact, who you can hit up later to further your agenda (that’s not meant to be as self-serving as its sounds - it’s just the boiled down fact of the practise).

  Most people will happily admit that they’re terrible with names and/or faces, and if all goes well at an event - like Pocket Gamer Connects next week in Helsinki - you’ll come away having met a hell of a lot of people.

  But here’s a great tip that’ll come in handy when it’s time to reconnect with your new networking friends: Don’t try to learn their life stories, even though they’ll undoubtedly offer it at the slightest provocation. Just try to remember one single fact about each person.

  This has a couple of benefits. It allows you to make your follow-up email deliciously personal and therefore flattering, and it’ll actively help you to remember exactly who it is you’re getting back in touch with.

  One fact. That’s all you need to know about everyone you’ll ever meet.

  
  

• 3 Go paperless as much as possible

  Business cards are fine, and it doesn’t hurt to carry some. But think about it; how many business cards do you have that someone else gave to you? They get used for testing pens on, and propping up wobbly beer tables, and quickly disappear into oblivion or the bin.

  But you must always share contact details before leaving someone. Always!

  Digital is the way to go these days. You need to get yourself into someone’s phone contacts, where you can happily remain forever more, and not leave people wondering who you are when you get back in touch with them.

  Your option are many, but you need to be equipped for cross-platform compatibility. Or, at least, have several options for different types of devices. A personal favourite is sending a contact file over NFC. Just add yourself to your own address book before hitting the show floor at Pocket Gamer Connects: Helsinki (or wherever) and leave the app open on that entry. Put your handsets back to back, and over it goes.

  This is only useful for Android, of course. Another nice option is to keep a QR Code open on your phone that links to an online vCard file (or similar), so people can scan the code and download your contact details. Don’t forget to use a URL shortener when generating the QR Code so the matrix is simpler and will read more easily.

  Again, this relies on the other guy having a QR Code reader installed, which they might not. There are a bunch of apps out there that can help (Shoot is a good one for iOS), so find one you like and make sure it’s installed before the big day.

  And if all else fails, suggest following each other on Twitter, and do it there and then with your phones. However you do it, a digital transfer of contact details beats a business card hands down. After all, it’s the 21st Century for God’s sake.

  That’s our quick and dirty guide to networking, which we’ll expand more on later. In the meantime, don’t forget to grab your Pocket Gamer Connects: Helsinki ticket so you can go and test out these game show networking hints and times yourself. Got your own strategies? Tell us all about them in the comments below.