Choosing between a big chamber event and a small group meetup for my first real network push

Everyone in my office said to go for the big Edmonton Chamber of Commerce mixer last quarter, but I picked a small, industry-specific roundtable of 12 people instead. I spent the $75 ticket fee and two hours there, while they spent over $300 and a full day at the chamber event. I came away with three solid leads that turned into meetings, while my coworkers mostly collected business cards that went nowhere. Has anyone else found the smaller, focused groups to be a better use of time and money here?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_martin221mo ago

Totally agree with brianl53 about getting your evening back. My old boss made us do those huge conferences and I'd just hide by the snack table after an hour. The smaller setups let you actually talk about work stuff without yelling over a band.

gibson.sarah1mo ago

Oh wait was that conference you mentioned run by the same people who think a live band helps networking? I had one of those and ended up spending 20 minutes trying to read someone's name tag while they kept pointing at their ear and mouthing "what?" at me. What finally worked for me was just showing up late to those things. Showed up 30 mins in, made a beeline for the snack table like you said, found a couple people who looked just as lost and we ended up having a real talk about our companies' shipping problems for like an hour. No band, no heart.

brianl531mo ago

You're right about the smaller groups being better, but your point about "two hours there" is the real key. It's not just the money saved, it's getting your evening back. Those big events drain your social battery for the whole next day. A focused chat with a few people feels like a real conversation, not a sales pitch sprint where you forget who you talked to. You can actually follow up because you remember what you discussed.