Compared networking at the Detroit Chamber mixer versus a small industry meetup downtown and the difference was night and day

I went to the big Chamber of Commerce event last month at Huntington Place with probably 400 people there. You walk in and it's all suits and name tags and people handing out cards like candy. I talked to maybe ten folks and every conversation felt like a sales pitch. Then last week I tried this small meetup over at the Eastern Market called Detroit Tech Tuesday, put on by a local group. Maybe 30 people, all of us in a back room at a coffee shop. The conversations went way deeper, like talking about actual supply chain problems we're all facing and sharing real contacts. By the end I had two solid leads for my machining side gig and a guy who offered to look at my website for free. Has anyone else found that the smaller gatherings in Detroit work better for making real connections, or is it just the kind of work you're in?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_henry1d ago

That "swapping business cards and actual advice until like 9 PM" part - did anyone actually follow up on those leads?

jones.brooke1d ago

Wait, 400 people at the Huntington Place thing? That’s a whole city block of suits trying to sell each other stuff. I went to a big one at the Ren Cen last year and I swear I got a headache from all the elevator pitches. But then that little 30-person meetup at Eastern Market, that’s the real deal. I’ve had the same thing happen at a small shop talk over in Hamtramck where we ended up swapping business cards and actual advice until like 9 PM. It’s wild how much better the small groups are for actually getting stuff done in this town.