Better than chance? Facilitating meaningful connections

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2008-10-13 14:31:00 UTC
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Editors Note: In addition to blogging, I'm running the SoCap "Connection Concierge" program with Assetmap.org. I'll be occasionally posting behind the scenes type of content. Hope you find it interesting!

Every great conference is the product of great people. And after great conferences, we always wish that we had the chance to meet just a few more of them. A few months ago, my company assetmap.org teamed up with the SoCap producers to begin desinging the Connection Concierge program.

Connection Concierge is designed to help conference participants with common interests and complimentary needs find one another more quickly and effectively. Users enter basic profile information about who they are, what they do, and what the have to offer, and then use a filtering tool to find others at the event they wish to connect with.

By early this morning, approximately 350 of 600 participants had entered their information and were beginning to use the Connection Finder tool, and this morning's registration period was supposed to be a chance for those other 250 or so to get online. It was, in a word, chaotic. Luckily I have an awesome team of 7 with me to help people make the most of the tool. With more than 2/3 of the conference participating, we've got an incredible database of information and a great opportunity to facilitate more meaningful deep connections.

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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