Event Matchmaking

What event matchmaking is

Matchmaking at an event does three jobs. It collects profiles, so the system knows who each attendee is and what they want. It matches, by comparing profiles and ranking the best people to meet. And it arranges the meeting, so the match turns into a time and a place or a video room.

It is different from a plain attendee directory, where people search and message each other. A directory leaves all the work to the attendee; matchmaking does part of it for them. It is also different from speed networking, where an organizer pairs people in rounds, though the two can work together.

• Where it is used

  Trade shows with hosted buyers, supplier diversity events, investor and startup events, association conferences, mentoring programs and hiring events.

• Who benefits

  Attendees meet relevant people sooner. Exhibitors and sponsors get meetings instead of walk-bys. Organizers have evidence of connections made.

• In person or online

  It works for in-person events with tables and schedules, for virtual events with video rooms, and for hybrid events with both.

How event matchmaking works

Whatever software is used, the process has the same five steps.

1. 1

   Profiles

   Each attendee completes a profile at registration or afterward: role, organization, industry, interests and what they are offering or looking for.

2. 2

   Goals and preferences

   Attendees say what they want to get out of the event, or set preferences such as location, field or what they need. Organizers choose which fields count.

3. 3

   Matching

   The system compares profiles and preferences and ranks the people each attendee should meet. The matchmaking page describes priority, string and semantic matching using natural language processing, with top matches shown on each attendee's dashboard.

   Business matchmaking app
4. 4

   Scheduling

   Matches turn into meeting requests or booked appointments, with tables or video rooms assigned. Attendees can request, reschedule or cancel.

5. 5

   Reminders and follow-up

   Both sides are reminded before the meeting. After it, attendees rate the meeting, make notes and follow up, and the organizer reviews results.

What makes matchmaking good

The software matters less than the information it works from. These are the things that separate matchmaking people use from matchmaking people ignore.

• Profiles people actually complete

  Short, specific questions that attendees can answer in a minute, with most fields as choices rather than free text.

• Matches people can understand

  If a suggestion shows why it fits, such as a shared industry or a stated need, attendees trust it more.

• Control for the attendee

  Attendees should be able to accept, decline, change or ask for a different time. Forced meetings generate no-shows.

• Sensible meeting design

  Short meetings, breaks, enough tables or rooms and a limit on how many meetings one person can book.

• A human in the loop

  Organizers should be able to review, add or change matches, especially for hosted buyers and VIP guests.

• Clear privacy rules

  Tell attendees what is shown to others and let them choose. Check the rules that apply to your attendees, since they vary by place.

Event matchmaking on Eventdex

These are the matchmaking facts Eventdex's own pages state. If you need anything beyond them, ask in a demo.

• AI matching from preferences

  The matchmaking app matches buyer and seller profiles on preferences, and the organizer sets the fields used for matching and auto-scheduling.

  Business matchmaking app

• Top matches

  The virtual meeting app page states that its algorithm suggests the top 10 matches for each attendee, based on their preferences.

  Virtual meeting app

• Meetings

  Scheduled 1:1, group and hosted buyer meetings, with tables assigned automatically or on demand, and a single video room for virtual meetings.

  Business matchmaking app

• Reminders and networking agents

  The AI platform page describes AI networking agents that send reminders about scheduled meetings and suggest introductions.

  AI event platform

• Reporting

  Dashboards, analytics and reports on matchmaking, with attendee information that can be exported to a CRM.

How to set up event matchmaking

Allow several weeks. Most of the work is deciding what to ask and how meetings will run, not configuring software.

EVENT MATCHMAKING SETUP CHECKLIST
GOALS
[ ] Who must meet whom? (buyers and sellers, investors and founders, mentors and mentees, recruiters and candidates)
[ ] What counts as a successful meeting?
[ ] How many meetings per attendee are realistic?

PROFILES
[ ] Profile questions written and tested (see the question template)
[ ] Required and optional fields decided
[ ] Fields to use for matching chosen
[ ] What attendees see about each other decided

MEETING DESIGN
[ ] Meeting length and breaks set
[ ] Tables, rooms or video rooms planned for the number of meetings
[ ] Rules set: maximum meetings per person, deadline for requests, how to cancel
[ ] Hosted buyers or VIPs handled separately, if any

COMMUNICATION
[ ] Invitation to complete the profile sent with a deadline
[ ] Reminder schedule set: day before and hour before
[ ] Contact for help named

EVENT DAY
[ ] Schedules visible to each attendee, on phone and on paper at an in-person event
[ ] Host available to resolve no-shows and changes
[ ] Notes and ratings enabled

AFTER
[ ] Meetings held, no-shows and ratings reviewed
[ ] Contact lists exported to the people who need them
[ ] Lessons written for next time

A matching profile question template

The questions below suit a business event. Keep the ones that match your goal and remove the rest. Fewer than ten questions is a good target for the final form, so treat this list as a menu.

MATCHING PROFILE QUESTIONS
ABOUT YOU
1. Name, job title and organization
2. Your industry or field: [choose from a list]
3. Your location or region: [choose from a list]

WHAT YOU OFFER
4. Products, services or expertise you can offer: [choose up to 3 from a list]
5. One sentence about what you do that someone should know

WHAT YOU WANT
6. Who do you most want to meet? [choose up to 3 roles or types of organization]
7. What do you want from this event? [Find customers / Find suppliers / Find investors or funding / Find partners / Find a mentor or learn / Find work or hire]
8. Topics you are interested in: [choose up to 5 from a list]

PRACTICAL
9. How many meetings would you like? [Number]
10. Times you are not available: [Choose from the event schedule]
11. Do you agree to let other attendees see your profile? [Yes / No]
12. Any accessibility needs for meetings? [Optional]

Common problems and how to fix them

Matchmaking is easy to start and easy to get wrong. These are the problems organizers meet most often, with a fix for each. Most come back to the same cause: the information attendees give, or the way meetings are laid out.

• Hosted buyer programs

  Buyers get dedicated tables and sellers rotate between them. Eventdex's matchmaking page describes this managed table booking. Review these matches by hand.

  Business matchmaking app

• Open, unstructured events

  Anyone can ask anyone for a meeting. The matchmaking page describes on-demand table assignment for this style, so the system finds a free table when a meeting is requested.

  On-demand table booking

How to measure matchmaking

Measure it against the goal you wrote down. Keep the measures simple, and say how you count them, because they will be compared next year.