Vent: That week I tried 5 networking events in Detroit and flopped hard

I hit up 5 different Detroit business networking events last week, from a chamber mixer in Midtown to a coffee meetup in Corktown, and walked away with zero solid leads. One guy literally handed me his card and then walked off mid-sentence when someone 'more important' showed up. Has anyone else found a specific type of Detroit event that actually gets you real connections instead of just awkward small talk?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen_hart13d ago

Oh man, "handshakes and not much substance lol" is SO on point. I remember going to this one big networking thing at a hotel downtown a few years back and this guy spent 10 minutes telling me about his startup then just... walked away when his phone buzzed. Like I was a placeholder or something. It's honestly why I stopped going to those huge mixers altogether. I started doing these early morning coffee roundtables instead, one in Ferndale, and people actually sat down and talked for a full hour. Still didn't get a ton of leads from it though, but at least the conversations felt real.

terryallen14d ago

Did you try any of the smaller industry-specific meetups instead of the big general ones? Those chamber mixers are always gonna be a lot of handshakes and not much substance lol.