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Insights:
5 Tips for Successful 1x1 Meetings
 1. Clear business
purpose.
1x1 meetings are a facilitated networking activity.
And, you are the facilitator.
What do you hope to get out of it?
Attract more sponsors and exhibitors?
Attract more registered
attendees?
Improve communication between product development and
users?
Encourage migration to a new version?
Having a clear purpose
will help you to determine who gets to request meetings with whom and to
prioritize scheduling the highest value meetings.
2. Carve out time in
the agenda.
Determine whether you are going to have 1x1 meetings
going on throughout the conference or at a more limited time.
What is the
standard duration for a meeting?
A typical meeting timeslot would be 20 -
25 minutes, with 5 to 10 minutes between timeslots.
Make these decisions
up front, and then manage exceptions if necessary.
3. Small meeting rooms
or one large room with many tables?
Decide how private the meetings
need to be and based on that determine whether you are going to reserve small
rooms for 1x1 meetings, or one large meeting room with many tables set up for
meetings.
You will want to schedule the target of meeting requests into
the same room or table throughout the day, so that both parties (the meeting
requester and the meeting target) don't have to move between meetings.
4. Assign a team member
to be the 1x1 coordinator. The 1x1 coordinator will
be responsible for scheduling all meetings, sending out schedules for review and
approval, and on-site the coordinator should be at a prominent desk in the reception area to
handle schedule changes, new meeting requests, etc.
5. On-site contact
information is a must.
Make sure attendees
are required to provide their cell phone number when registering.
This
information should be available to the 1x1 coordinator, so that s/he can be in
touch with meeting participants throughout the day to communicate schedule or
location changes as necessary.
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