Similar to speed dating, with speed networking, participants have the opportunity to network with many other business professionals in a very short period of time. At the beginning of the event, there is open networking where the attendees are expected to walk up to each other to get the conversation started. You could call this a warm-up activity. After an hour of open networking, about 50 to 100 people are then seated in about 4, double rows of chairs.
Every person sits across from each other. The host then gives instructions for you to have a three minute conversation at the sound of a bell with the person sitting across from you- giving each person a minute and thirty seconds to speak and exchange business cards. After three minutes, the bell is sounded and everyone in designated rows shifts to the right, while the facing rows remain in place. At the end of the event, the host gives each participant a list of all the attendees and their contact information.