All Along

Field Notes

Original research on event networking

Frameworks, field-tested tactics and hard-won insights on how event organisers can build networking that attendees actually remember. New posts every week.

All Field Notes posts

Grand ballroom with huge chandeliers, a packed crowd at tables and a lit stage at the far end
Comparison30 August 20268 min read

RingCentral Events alternative: an honest comparison (formerly Hopin)

If you searched for Hopin: it's now RingCentral Events. Here's the honest comparison with a matching layer, including the four rows where they win.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Hundreds of association members mingling in a grand chandeliered ballroom at an evening networking reception
Comparison27 August 20268 min read

Higher Logic alternative: an honest comparison for associations

Higher Logic builds somewhere for members to be. We send them three names and a reason. Here's the honest head-to-head, including where Higher Logic wins.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Small conference audience seated in folding chairs with name badges visible at a community gathering
Comparison26 August 20268 min read

Mentorloop alternative: an honest comparison for associations and communities

Mentorloop runs a programme that lasts months. We run a round that's over in a week. And no, explained matching isn't a difference - they do it too.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Association gala dinner filling a ballroom, hundreds of members seated at round tables under chandeliers
Comparison25 August 20268 min read

Glue Up alternative: an honest comparison for associations and chambers

Glue Up runs the association. We introduce the members. Their own speed networking page lists random pairing - here's the honest head-to-head.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Row of red lanyards and name badges laid along a registration counter, staff preparing behind
Comparison24 August 20268 min read

Eventify alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

Eventify matches on tags an organiser picks in advance. We match on what people actually wrote. Here's the honest head-to-head, including where Eventify wins.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Exhibition hall in pink duotone with attendees networking between booths under blank banner panels
Comparison23 August 20268 min read

Converve alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

Converve gives the organiser levers - who may meet whom, enforced, on a timetable. We give the attendee a sentence. Here's the honest head-to-head.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Packed networking event in a warehouse venue with a mezzanine level, orange accents and tall plants
Comparison18 August 20268 min read

Remo alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

Remo's matchmaking is the closest thing to ours that we compare against, and their page says so plainly. The real difference is the venue - here's the honest version.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Crowd seen from behind watching a burst of confetti and colour at a large conference
Comparison18 August 20268 min read

NetWorks alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

NetWorks sells the session. We sell the shortlist. Here's the honest head-to-head between ExpoPlatform's speed networking product and a matching layer.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Packed conference auditorium with a speaker at the podium in front of a large orange screen
Comparison18 August 20268 min read

Zoho Backstage alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

Zoho Backstage does matchmaking - but their own plan comparison marks it as absent from the free and entry plans. Here's the honest head-to-head.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Conference registration lobby with tropical plants, a welcome desk and attendees arriving in warm orange and blue
Comparison17 August 20268 min read

Whova alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

Whova is a whole event platform and we are one narrow thing. Here's the honest head-to-head, including the four rows where Whova wins outright.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Two attendees in one-to-one conversation over espresso at a conference, lanyards visible and the event floor behind
Comparison17 August 20268 min read

Braindate alternative: an honest comparison for event organisers

Braindate makes the attendee the author - you post a topic and browse for someone to book. We make them the reader. Here's the honest head-to-head, including where Braindate wins.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Isometric aerial view of a B2B event hall set up for sales team meeting conversations and matched introductions
Strategy17 August 20267 min read

B2B event networking for sales teams: a three-touch framework

Sales teams arrive at B2B events with a budget, a quota and no plan. The teams who do this well treat the event as the middle of a conversation, not the start.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Wide view of a packed tech summit audience where young professional loneliness sits hidden inside the crowd of delegates
Pulse16 August 20268 min read

Young professionals loneliness is the cohort events miss

The loneliest people in the room are not who you'd think. Across 142 countries the 19 to 29s come out worst. That changes who event design should serve first.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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A small group of community members sitting in a circle in a relaxed setting, the kind of moment a good member engagement programme is designed to produce
How to13 August 20268 min read

How to increase member engagement without adding more content

The five steps I'd take to increase member engagement, in order, with the metrics worth tracking and the ones worth dropping.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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A community manager in a coworking space introducing two members to each other during an everyday connection moment
How to12 August 20268 min read

A community manager job description that hires connectors

Most community manager job descriptions hire a content producer and wonder why retention doesn't move. Here's the one I'd write for a connector instead.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Speaker on stage before a large backdrop and branding screens with a seated audience at a tech conference
Comparison11 August 20267 min read

Twine alternative: standing, explained member matching - not just a live video session

Twine runs live video networking in a fixed window. If your community can't all be online at once, here's the standing, explained alternative they act on in their own time.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Busy trade show hall with silhouetted professionals moving between booth displays on an orange floor
Comparison9 August 20264 min read

SpeedNetworking.com alternative: curated matches, not just rotations

Speed networking fills the clock with short meetings. If you want the few right conversations with a reason - across a whole event, not one timed session - here's the comparison.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Large exhibition hall with orange pillar stands and small groups of professionals networking between booths
Comparison5 August 20264 min read

Jublia alternative: explained matchmaking built for mid-market events

Jublia is built for big trade-show floors. If your event is mid-market and the job is meeting the right people, here's the honest comparison.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Hundreds of conference attendees streaming through a long glass-walled corridor between sessions at a large event
Comparison2 August 20267 min read

Bizzabo alternative: matchmaking depth without buying the whole platform

Bizzabo builds networking into a full event platform. If what you need is sharp, explained matching alongside the tools you already use, here's the head-to-head.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Bird's-eye view of an enormous trade show floor with a grid of white booths and hundreds of attendees
Comparison29 July 20267 min read

Cvent alternative: focused attendee matchmaking without the platform overhead

Cvent does everything - and asks for weeks, budget and a team to do it. If all you need is for attendees to meet the right people, here's the honest comparison.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Black and white view of a full lecture hall, the audience in their seats and a speaker presenting
Comparison27 July 20264 min read

Skool alternative: the member matching Skool leaves to the directory

Skool keeps it simple - and leaves discovery to the feed. If you want the right members actually introduced, here's the matching layer that sits on top.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Formal outdoor evening reception with silhouetted professionals mingling near a gazebo, wine glass in the foreground
Comparison22 July 20264 min read

Mighty Networks alternative: explained member matching across your community and events

Mighty Networks suggests people who look similar. If you want the right members actually introduced - with a reason, and events covered too - here's how it compares.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Two professionals in a one-to-one conversation representing the outcome of transparent event matchmaking
Strategy21 July 20268 min read

The case for transparent event matchmaking

If an attendee asks why they were paired with someone, an organiser who cannot answer has a product problem, not a communication problem.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Line drawing of a crowd approaching an arched conference venue entrance framed by a coral sun
Comparison20 July 20267 min read

Hivebrite alternative: the member matching layer your community platform is missing

Hivebrite is a full community home - directory, events, fundraising. If members never search the directory, here's the matching layer that sits alongside it.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Scattered dots with one red and one teal circle meeting at the centre, standing for a made introduction
Comparison15 July 20264 min read

Donut alternative: community matching that explains every introduction

Donut pairs people in Slack on a schedule. If you want members to know why they've been introduced - and one tool that covers events too - here's how it compares.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Long trade show aisle with a teal floor, booth rows on either side and a crowd of attendees networking
Comparison13 July 20267 min read

Swapcard alternative: focus on matchmaking, not feature bloat

Swapcard does everything - registration, ticketing, streaming, matchmaking. If matchmaking is the part you actually care about, here's the trade-off.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Members of a coworking space talking in a bright shared workspace, the setting for curated introductions
Pulse12 July 20268 min read

What coworking already knows about curated introductions

The coworking industry decided years ago that introductions are the job. It just does them by hand. Here is what events and communities can borrow.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Wide view of a tech summit auditorium where senior leadership loneliness sits inside a packed room of delegates
Pulse8 July 20268 min read

Leadership loneliness is the design brief events keep missing

The most senior people in the room are also the loneliest. That is a design brief, not a wellbeing post. Here is what I do with it.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Five women working with laptops and notebooks around a long communal table in a bright open workspace
Comparison7 July 20264 min read

Circle alternative: intelligent member matching, not just a community space

Circle is a great community home, but connecting is left to the member. Here's how All Along adds proactive, explained matching alongside it - and to your events.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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A speaker on stage before a large standing crowd, one of the many event types networking design has to flex to
Strategy6 July 20268 min read

Event networking by event type: one framework, six formats

One networking format does not fit six different kinds of event. Three questions that tell you the design any event type actually needs.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Two attendees holding lanyards look towards a busy conference registration queue in a glass-fronted foyer
Comparison5 July 20267 min read

Brella alternative: smarter matchmaking without the setup complexity

Brella drives quality 1:1 meetings, but only after days of category and intent setup. Here's how All Along compares when your time is the constraint.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Steaming coffee cups lined up at a conference break station, where informal introductions tend to happen
Comparison2 July 20264 min read

intros.ai alternative: community matching that explains every introduction

intros.ai automates scheduled intros inside a community. If you want members to know why they've been matched - and one tool that covers events too - read this.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Crowd from behind watching a colourful confetti burst at a festival style corporate event finale
Strategy1 July 20267 min read

Festival style corporate event ideas (without the chaos)

Corporate events are quietly turning into festivals - multi-stage, multi-lounge, parallel tracks. The format is great. The networking is usually where it falls over.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Aerial view of a packed exhibition hall with rows of white booths and hundreds of professional attendees
Comparison30 June 20267 min read

Grip alternative: why event organisers choose All Along for smart matchmaking

Grip is built for big, complex trade shows. If attendee matchmaking is the job you're judged on, here's an honest head-to-head with All Along.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Small group of members in conversation during a community gathering that drives long-term member retention
Strategy29 June 20268 min read

Member retention strategies that actually keep members

Most member retention strategies treat retention as a renewal problem. The ones that work treat it as a friendship problem - and design accordingly.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Members of a professional community talking around a shared table during a regular member engagement session
Strategy28 June 20268 min read

Member engagement ideas that actually retain members

Most member engagement ideas measure activity. The ones that actually retain people measure connection - to each other, not to the platform.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Large summit audience seated and listening to a speaker, the room built around the stage rather than connection
Pulse28 June 20268 min read

The connection gap: events rank networking first, fund it last

Planners say peer connection is the number one thing that makes an event work. Then they give it almost none of the programme. That gap is the whole story.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Delegates filling a large auditorium at a fintech conference before a main-stage session
Strategy25 June 20268 min read

Fintech conference networking: a playbook

A fintech conference is a deal room with a stage attached. Most are run as if the stage is the point. Here is the playbook I would write instead.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Layered abstract editorial illustration representing the financial argument behind the business case for event networking
How to24 June 20268 min read

How to build the business case for event networking

Networking gets cut first because organisers pitch it as a vibe, not a business. Here's the case I write when a CFO is sharpening the red pen.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Two attendees in a focused one-to-one conversation, the kind of networking moment delegates say they want most from events
Strategy23 June 20267 min read

What attendees actually want from event networking

Ask an organiser what attendees want and you get one answer. Ask the attendees and you get a different one. The gap between the two is where most networking programmes quietly underperform.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Conference panel on stage during a session where panel discussion audience engagement is taken seriously
How to22 June 20267 min read

Panel discussion audience engagement that actually works

Most panel Q&A is a microphone race that ends with one question and three speeches. The fix has more to do with what happens before the panel than what happens during it.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Delegates talking in pairs on a rooftop terrace at golden hour, the kind of real connection events are judged on
Pulse21 June 20268 min read

Forced networking doesn't work. Here's what does instead

The industry just said out loud that forced networking has failed. I think that is the most useful thing it has admitted in years.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Isometric view of a banquet hall where hundreds of attendees network at round tables between sessions
Comparison21 June 20264 min read

b2match alternative: matchmaking that explains every meeting and runs your events too

b2match runs a full meeting diary, with the matching rules left to you. If you want a reason on every match and one engine for events and community, here's the head-to-head.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Senior knowledge workers gathered at a large tech summit, the kind of professional networking after hybrid working has reshaped
Research19 June 20267 min read

Professional networking after hybrid working: the new geography

The cohort that buys conference tickets is now the cohort least likely to be in the office. That changes what the conference is for, and most organisers are still pricing it like 2019.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Packed informal lounge of attendees clustered into self-organised groups during an unconference format networking session
Strategy18 June 20267 min read

How unconferences make networking the agenda

Most events bolt networking onto the side of the agenda. The unconference format puts it on the table - the conversation happens inside the agenda creation itself.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Lecture-hall audience filling an academic conference auditorium before a plenary session begins
Tools17 June 20267 min read

Networking tools for academic conferences: what to look for

Academic conferences are not just smaller corporate events. The networking tools that work for trade shows usually don't survive contact with a programme committee.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Four professionals in a small group conversation at a small conference networking session, mixed age and ethnicity
Strategy16 June 20268 min read

Why your small conference needs a different networking strategy

Small conferences keep copying big-event playbooks and wasting their best advantage. The networking strategy that fits a room of 200 looks nothing like the one that fits 5,000.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Speed networking software running a packed round of paired conversations across long tables
Strategy15 June 20267 min read

Speed networking software: what to look for before you buy

Speed networking software looks easy on a demo and brutal on the day. Here's the short list of things I check before recommending one.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Speed networking session in progress with attendees seated at numbered tables for a timed rotation between conversations
How to14 June 20267 min read

Speed networking rotation spreadsheet: the operator's template

Speed networking lives or dies on the rotation spreadsheet. Here's the operator's template I use - the three columns it sits on, the round-length maths, and the no-show plan.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Glass-roofed atrium breakout lounge where event networking conversations happen between curated sessions
How to12 June 20267 min read

How to use AI for event networking: three concrete use cases

AI tools for event networking are loud right now. Most aren't worth the licence cost. Three use cases organisers can actually pilot.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Event organiser laying out a networking event planning checklist on paper at a planning table
How to9 June 20268 min read

Networking event planning checklist: a 60-day calendar

A planning checklist isn't a magic spell. It forces the networking decisions to be made before the agenda gets locked in - which is the only point they're still free.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Indoor outdoor patio reception where bleisure event networking strategies turn extended trips into renewing relationships
Strategy8 June 20266 min read

Bleisure event networking: design for the day after the agenda

The agenda ended on Friday. The connections people remember happened over Saturday breakfast. Most organisers don't even know that's where the event went.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Four colleagues in a small-group conversation showing structured networking for introverts working in practice
Strategy7 June 20268 min read

Structured networking for introverts: design that works

Open-floor networking is designed for the people who least need it. The fix isn't a separate quiet room - it's a different design for the whole programme.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Abstract risograph illustration of scattered data points representing networking event feedback form responses
How to5 June 20267 min read

How to design a networking event feedback form

Most post-event feedback forms ask the wrong questions at the wrong time, then learn nothing about networking. Here is the form I use instead.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Small group conversation in a courtyard - the kind of serendipitous networking moment most events leave to chance
How to4 June 20268 min read

How to create serendipitous networking at events

Most organisers leave the best moments to chance. The events with the most serendipitous networking are the ones where serendipity has been carefully engineered.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Delegates seated at a large infrastructure summit ahead of a session on a major capital project
Strategy3 June 20269 min read

Infrastructure summit networking: a playbook

Infrastructure summits run multi-billion-pound project pipelines through their delegate lists. Most still treat networking like a coffee break. Here is the playbook I would write.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Aerial view of a hall of round meeting tables set up for a B2B matchmaking event with attendees networking
How to2 June 20268 min read

How to plan a B2B matchmaking event that delivers meetings

Most events bolt networking on. A B2B matchmaking event makes the meetings the agenda - and runs on data the organiser collected weeks before anyone arrived.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Two abstract circles meeting on radiating lines, a visual metaphor for the attendee match card template connection
How to1 June 20267 min read

Attendee match cards: a one-page template for matchmaking events

A match card is the cheapest, sharpest tool for running an attendee matchmaking event. Here's what goes on one - and a template you can use this week.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Crowded trade show floor where exhibitor ROI is decided long before the doors open
How to31 May 20268 min read

How to increase exhibitor ROI at events - the three levers that move the needle

Exhibitors don't lose money because their booths are too small. They lose money because the room is opaque, the meetings are random and the follow-up never happens. Here's the fix.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Packed conference auditorium with a fully engaged audience watching a keynote, illustrating large-event attendee engagement
How to29 May 20267 min read

How to actually increase event attendee engagement

Engagement is not a vibe and it is not gamification. It is five levers that move whether attendees show up, talk to each other and come back.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Light-filled conference atrium with attendees networking in small groups, the outcome organisers want when they improve event networking
How to28 May 20267 min read

How to improve event networking when it isn't working yet

If attendee feedback on your networking is thin, the problem usually isn't 'more mingling time'. Six specific levers move the needle - and most organisers don't touch them.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Professionals with briefcases entering a conference venue, the scale at which an event networking platform has to operate
Strategy26 May 202614 min read

Event networking software: the three questions that decide it

Most platform decisions are made on feature grids and unmade in implementation. Three questions separate a platform worth signing from one that will quietly bruise your team for a year - and the same three questions work whether you're shopping a full platform, standalone software, an app, a matching engine or a simple tool.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Overhead view of suited professionals at a conference event on a coral background
Strategy25 May 20267 min read

Why 70% of your attendees won't come back (and what actually changes that)

The average event keeps just 30% of its attendees year-on-year. If networking is the number one reason people come back, most events are losing the fight before it starts.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Aerial view of a conference event space with colourful round tables set up for speed networking
How to24 May 20268 min read

How to run a speed networking event that actually works

Speed networking only works when the pairing logic, round length and pre-event prep match the people in the room. Get any of those three wrong and you end up with a handshake reel.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Attendees clustering into a small curated networking circle arranged by the organiser before the event
Strategy22 May 20266 min read

Curated networking: random, facilitated, or designed

'Curated' is becoming the word every event invitation uses and most events mean something different by it. A practical definition, and when curation is actually the wrong answer.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Twelve conference networking ideas that actually work
How to21 May 20268 min read

Twelve conference networking ideas that actually work

Every organiser I know keeps a list of networking ideas they've stolen from other events. This is mine - twelve of them, grouped by the moment they belong in.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Small group of conference attendees in conversation showing the kind of exchange icebreakers are designed to start
How to19 May 20267 min read

Conference icebreaker questions: the printable PDF list

I keep a short list of icebreaker questions on my phone and hand a printed copy to every facilitator I work with. Here it is.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Delegates filling a large corporate atrium at a summit designed around deliberate networking
Strategy18 May 20267 min read

Corporate event networking: four events, four playbooks

One networking format does not fit four different corporate events. A framework for matching the design to the business reason the event exists.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Delegates mingling in a structured corporate networking reception with organised conversation zones
How to17 May 20267 min read

Corporate networking event ideas that actually work

Most 'networking ideas' lists are built for HR away-days. Here are ten formats I've watched produce real corporate conversations - and three that reliably do not.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Large conference hall filling with engaged attendees illustrating the scale of a multi-phase engagement strategy
Strategy15 May 20267 min read

The conference attendee engagement strategy most teams skip

Most event teams do not actively manage engagement. The ones that do treat it as a system from registration to follow-up, not a vibe.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Networking reception area set up for small group discussion in a B2B conference roundtable format
How to14 May 20267 min read

How to run a conference roundtable that actually works

Most conference roundtables end up as a panel arranged in a circle. Four things make the difference between a slot on the agenda and an hour people actually remember.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Large professional conference setting illustrating the variety of session formats available to B2B event organisers
Strategy13 May 20268 min read

Five B2B networking session formats that actually work

B2B buyers want a different kind of conversation. Five session formats that let them have it - and one that quietly underperforms every time.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Abstract editorial graphic representing the post-event follow-up process and feedback loop for organisers
How to12 May 20267 min read

The post-event follow-up email most organisers send is wrong

The post-event email is the cheapest part of the whole event and the part most teams put the least thought into. It is also where most of the networking value quietly leaks away.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Huge hybrid conference crowd on site while remote audiences join via the hybrid event networking strategy
Strategy11 May 20268 min read

Hybrid event networking - why most of it fails and what actually works

Most hybrid event networking fails because the in-person room treats virtual attendees as a broadcast audience. Fix the measurement first, and the format choices get easier.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Event networking icebreaker activity with small groups standing and laughing at an event
How to10 May 20267 min read

How to design event networking icebreakers that actually work

Most event icebreakers solve the organiser's anxiety problem, not the attendee's. Here are the formats that actually hold up.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Packed conference keynote hall filling up before a session, illustrating why event networking matters now
Research7 May 20267 min read

Why event networking matters more now than it used to

Meetings per person are up. Meeting length is down. Conferences are now the longest block of peer attention most professionals get all year, and most organisers still treat the networking around them as a side dish.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Full conference auditorium where event agenda networking design decides whether connections happen
How to6 May 20268 min read

How to design an event agenda that makes networking possible

Most conference agendas are built for content consumption and then labelled 'networking-friendly'. That is not the same thing as a networking-friendly agenda.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Speaker at a keynote podium in a fully seated conference venue addressing a professional audience
Strategy5 May 20267 min read

Speaker selection is a networking decision, not a marketing one

Programme teams pick speakers for ticket sales. The speakers who actually produce the most networking value in the room are usually a different set entirely.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Full auditorium filling up during the first hour of a conference when attendee momentum is set
Research4 May 20267 min read

The first hour of a conference matters more than the keynote

Most organisers pour their best thinking into the keynote. First-time attendees have usually made up their minds about your event long before the speaker walks on stage.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Large conference audience arriving where each connection formed will become a data point for networking success
How to3 May 20268 min read

How to tell if your event networking actually worked

Most organisers judge their networking by how it felt in the room. That method tells you almost nothing useful.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Trade show floor with exhibitors and visitors showing where trade show networking strategy must work
Strategy1 May 20268 min read

Trade show networking fails - and it is not the booths' fault

Trade show organisers treat the show floor as the centre of the universe. The conversations that actually drive trade show value tend to happen in the rooms nobody puts on the floor plan.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Large tech summit stage illustrating the range of event session formats organisers can choose
Research30 April 20268 min read

Which event session formats actually generate real conversations

Not all session formats are created equal. Some produce genuine conversation. Others quietly shut it down while everyone nods politely. The research is clearer than you might think.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Editorial graphic depicting the key planning stages of a well-structured networking event
How to29 April 20268 min read

How to plan a networking event that people actually remember

Most networking events follow the same script: pack people into a room, hand them a drink, and hope. Here's what actually works.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Small hosted group conversation showing the kind of micro networking events that work inside larger conferences
How to29 April 20266 min read

Why your big conference needs micro networking events

Big conferences lose people in the crowd. The fix is not a bigger room - it is five smaller ones. The micro networking events I keep seeing organisers under-use.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Conference coffee break area illustrating the coffee break networking trap organisers fall into
Strategy28 April 20267 min read

Why the coffee break is where event networking goes to die

The coffee break is the one part of every conference agenda I have never seen an organiser defend. And yet it is still the main way most events try to make networking happen.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Mixed group of attendees in a relaxed coworking setting where inclusive networking ideas have replaced the default open bar
Strategy28 April 20267 min read

Inclusive networking ideas every organiser should run

Most events are quietly designed for the loudest 20%. Five inclusive networking ideas that work for the rest - and the rest is most of your room.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Illustrated optical trade show aisle with booth rows and professional buyers walking the exhibition floor
Strategy26 April 20267 min read

Optical trade show matchmaking: the buyer-first playbook

Optical and eyewear shows are a matchmaking format pretending to be a trade show. Here is how I would run the buyer diary if I were programming one tomorrow.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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How to use audience insights for events: a practical guide
How to24 April 20267 min read

How to use audience insights for events: a practical guide

Most audience insights work at events stops at a demographic breakdown. That's where the problem starts - not where the answer is.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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One to one attendee matchmaking conversation at a curated business networking event
Strategy23 April 20267 min read

What attendee matchmaking actually means

Attendee matchmaking isn't a fancy word for networking. It's a quieter, more specific discipline - and most events still haven't noticed the difference.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Conference registration area where attendee interest survey questions shape who meets whom on the day
How to22 April 20267 min read

Attendee interest survey questions that produce matchable data

Most registration forms ask who attendees are. The ones that produce great networking ask what they actually want.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Large tech summit audience during a keynote, the kind of room participant matchmaking is built for
How to21 April 20268 min read

How event participant matchmaking actually works

Most organisers aren't sure what participant matchmaking does differently to a spreadsheet filter. Here's how it actually works.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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How to network effectively: a calmer, more human guide to real professional connections
How to20 April 20267 min read

How to network effectively: a calmer, more human guide to real professional connections

Most 'how to network effectively' advice treats it as a performance. It isn't. It's a small, repeatable habit - and the people who treat it that way end up with the strongest networks.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Packed expo floor showing why event sponsor data is the missing link for organisers
Strategy19 April 20267 min read

What event sponsors actually want - and why most organisers can't give it to them

Sponsors are asking harder questions. Most organisers can't answer them. Here's what sponsors actually want and how to deliver it.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Small group conversation where introvert event networking feels manageable and energising
How to16 April 20268 min read

How to make event networking work for introverts (and everyone else)

Walk into most networking events and you'll see the same scene: a handful of confident people working the room, and a larger group feeling uncomfortable. Your event is failing them.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Delegates gathering in an informal networking area between conference sessions
Strategy15 April 20268 min read

Why networking is the reason members join - and the reason they quietly leave

Networking is the top reason members join. Most events leave it to chance. That gap is costing associations more than they realise.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Modern coworking networking table showing how event registration data powers audience intelligence
Strategy12 April 20267 min read

What your registration form already knows about your audience

Most organisers treat registration as a logistics tool. The ones who get great results read it as an intelligence brief.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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Large tech summit audience arriving already primed by pre event networking introductions
Strategy9 April 20267 min read

Why your event networking should start before day one

Organisers treat networking as something that happens at coffee breaks. The research says the opposite: the best connections start weeks before the venue opens.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Large conference audience whose collective behaviour can be shifted by a single informed organiser
Strategy7 April 20266 min read

Why your event networking tool isn't delivering

Most organisers invest in better tools than ever and still watch attendees cluster with people they already know. The problem isn't the tool. It's something much simpler.

By Cate Trotter · Co-founder and Product Lead, All Along

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Huge conference crowd from above illustrating the perception gap in event networking
Research4 April 20269 min read

The perception gap killing your event networking results

78% of organisers believe their event delivers memorable moments. Only 40% of attendees agree. That 38-point gap explains why your repeat bookings are flat.

By Alex Shiell · Co-founder and GTM Lead, All Along

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