Useless. This was the dampening statement that was occasionally levelled at us, a project team formed to bring together a fully fledged networking event. Critics say that since Malta is a small community - we know whom we need to know or know people who can get us to those we need to know.
But are we really that good? Might not this sort of mentality be overlooking a simple fact - you may be well connected but you are potentially foregoing attractive contacts by always being in the 'driving seat' of your network.
Sometimes you need to listen to what is out there and see whether other opportunities exist that you may have not even thought of before. It is true that Malta, and in particular Malta's business community, is a contained playing field, yet there are still a considerable number of players of which you probably at most know a fraction of.
How many of the 840 members of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, representing over 1,000 companies, do you know? Furthermore, there are the well known names of the game as well as the up-and-coming rookies that might not even be members of any organisation.
It would be useful to consider whether your network has a balance of both kinds. The latter sometimes could offer far more exciting prospects for growth and new initiatives. Also, leafing through the Made in Malta publication by Malta Enterprise - how many of the 24 sectors does your network reach?
Fine, maybe we are challenging the idea that it is useful for one to take an active role in extending the reach of his or her network; yet the need for a structured networking event to do this could be debatable. At this point it might be useful to frame what we mean by a structured business networking event.
This primarily consists of an appropriately set-up meeting room where a number of five-minute one-to-one sessions are held between yourself and other delegates attending the event. During these five-minute opportunity windows delegates indicate to their counterpart what they are seeking to achieve out of the encounter.
At the end of every five-minute session both delegates individually indicate whether they can see a short-term business opportunity. These events are increasingly commonplace abroad and are held on both an international and national/regional scale.
Over the past two and a half years Junior Chamber International alone has held such sessions for 1,530+ participants resulting in the generation of 15,820 contacts with a match rate of 38.53 per cent and one-sided interests of 15.47 per cent. (JCI is an international federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs, present in over 100 countries with a membership base of over 250,000 members aged 18 to 40.
JCI Malta, established in 1994, is the national member organisation of the federation offering programmes in all of JCI's four areas of opportunity: international, business, individual and community).
At face value, the advantage of this format is that the number of contacts made in an hour is increased from the average of three to four contacts (typical of a social type business networking event) to approximately 10 contacts. This benefit is also coupled with a much clearer vision on whether prospects actually lie ahead for a continued relationship with such contacts.
Critics might argue that the match rate is still considerably low and, to a certain degree, this criticism may well be justified. This statistic could be explained in terms of two aspects - the odds of meeting someone seeking what you are offering and vice-versa, as well as the ability of the delegate to clearly and concisely indicate what he/she is seeking out of the encounter.
On this point Speednetworking Ltd, which in 2005 launched globally as a franchise, quotes the following comment from a delegate attending one of their events: "(It) helps hone your 90-second pitch. Also helps people get over the barrier of talking to strangers."
Whether you operate in miniature Malta or large London, the impact of your first 90 seconds remains key to initiating business relationships and one should not underestimate the significance of developing such a skill.
Another aspect frequently ignored by critics of such networking events is the network that actually lies behind your new contact. You may very well conclude that the delegate sitting opposite you does not present a direct business opportunity, but think beyond that level and consider any further 'doors' that such an individual may open.
In today's travel savvy business world the network may easily spread beyond our shores into other markets you may be keen on exploring, or at least just acquainting yourself with.
Considering all this and sharing the views collected to date, the project team queries whether we Maltese truly believe in the value of alliances. There seems to be an inherent fear to share an idea with another party as potential partners are often viewed as cunning competitors. Yet the reality is that the most useless idea is that which remains just an idea.
Last year JCI Malta launched its first Business Networking Event in the ballroom of the SAS Radisson, St Julian's, which attracted a large number of young, aspiring entrepreneurs who interacted with each other for over 90 minutes.
Supporting the event were a number of young, established entrepreneurs acting as patrons, who shared their experiences with the participants. Chris Grech (Dhalia Real Estate Services), Hatem Dowidar (CEO, Vodafone Malta), Joe Fenech Conti (CEO, Datatrak; director, AirMalta; chairman, PBS) and Juanita Bencini (partner, KPMG Malta), shared not only their experience in networking and entrepreneurship but also joined the rest of the participants during the networking sessions.
It is with this ambition in mind that on May 31, JCI Malta will be launching the second edition of the Business Networking Event (BNE) targeting entrepreneurs, employees and professionals who are keen to expand their network and explore new opportunities.
For this year, JCI Malta is again organising a very interesting line-up of patrons to share with the rest of the participants their thoughts on business networking as well as participate in the event. Two of this year's patrons are Molly Bordonaro, the United States Ambassador, Malta and Lawrence Zammit, chairman of Air Malta.
The JCI BNE team looks forward to offering this event and building on last year's success story. Like any other idea, it too depends on a network to be a successful event and on the active participation of ambitious, forward-looking players from various spheres.
The main sponsors of the event are HSBC Bank Malta, KPMG Malta, Air Malta and Allied Newspapers. The efforts of these companies to support JCI Malta, together with a brilliant venue such as the Grand Ballroom at the SAS Radisson, are all key factors in preparing and presenting a successful business networking event.
For more details log on to www.jci.org.mt or call 9942-8488.