Business matchmaking: what to consider on the day of the event

The day of the event is not the moment to plan. It is the moment to carry out what has already been decided. Whoever arrives with decisions still pending spends the day putting out fires, and the participants notice.

This is the script for the day, hour by hour, with what to do when something goes off plan.

The day before: the visit that avoids half the problems

Go to the venue a day before, or in the morning if the event is in the afternoon. Check:

• whether the agreed setup is the one in the contract;
• how many tables actually fit, with room to stand up;
• whether the audible alert is heard in the furthest corner;
• where the operator's power socket is and how many metres of extension you

need;

• whether the screen is visible from every table;
• whether the tables are already numbered.

Last-minute changes happen. You want to know about them before the participants do.

Two hours before: the setup

Arrive with real slack, not thirty minutes. The reference that works is two hours for events of up to 60 people.

In that window:

• set up and number the tables, with a display visible from a distance;
• position the registration desk away from the door, so it does not create a

bottleneck;

• test the sound with the room empty and then with people in it, because the

noise changes everything;

• test the projection and check that the clock is legible from the back;
• sort the badges alphabetically, with each person's sequence of tables;
• keep the table map printed and to hand, as a contingency plan.

One hour before: the registration desk opens

Open the registration desk one hour before the announced time. Two reasons: whoever arrives early sits down instead of waiting on their feet, and you find out early who is not going to show up.

Count the staff: one person on the desk per 30 participants. With one person alone for 80 registrations, the queue delays the whole start.

Coffee before the opening is worth the cost. It resolves the social part which, if it does not happen there, will happen during the rounds and disrupt the clock.

The opening: two minutes worth twenty

Explaining the format is the most profitable part of the day. Say, in this order:

1. How many rounds the event has.
2. How long each person will have to speak.
3. Who speaks first at the table, so there is no hesitation.
4. What the change signal is and that nobody should move before it.
5. Where each person finds their sequence of tables.
6. That negotiation happens in the break, not during other people's turns.

Two minutes here save twenty of confusion at the changes.

During: what the organizer actually does

The work in the room is running it and watching. Stay alert to four signs:

• A table with one person alone. It is the worst visual scenario and it has

to be resolved before the next round.

• A slow change. If it takes more than two minutes, something is wrong with

the layout or the instruction.

• Someone speaking well beyond their time. Correct it discreetly the first

time. By the second, the rest of the room is already bothered.

• A lost participant. One person looking for their table indicates that the

sequence is not clear.

The break, which is part of the product

The break is not a pause, it is the part of the event where negotiation happens. The turns at the tables introduce; the break goes deeper.

Two things help: projecting the table map during the break, so everyone knows where they go next, and having a defined space for promotional material, cards and brochures, so the conversation tables do not become a store room.

Twenty minutes is usually enough. Beyond that, the room cools and starting again costs dearly.

What to do when something goes wrong

Someone is absent. Recalculate the distribution before the next round, keeping the rounds already held untouched. In Rodada de Sucesso, the recalculation has two modes, minimal adjustment, which is the default, and full reoptimisation.

Someone arrives without registering. Register them quickly and recalculate. That is better than leaving the person out or improvising a chair at a full table.

A late start. Cut rounds, never cut the speaking time. Reducing the speaking time mid-event is the change participants most notice and most complain about.

A sound problem. The alert commands the room. Have a second device available and, at worst, announce by voice in a standardised way.

The computer crashes. In Rodada de Sucesso, the state is saved periodically and the session can be resumed from where it stopped. Even so, keep the map printed and to hand.

An absent anchor. Redistribute the suppliers from their table and communicate transparently. Pretending nothing happened is worse.

Closing and recording

Before the room empties, do three things:

1. Say thank you, name the partners and sponsors and announce the date of the

next edition. It is the best sales moment of the year.

2. Ask for the feedback. Whoever answers there answers honestly.
3. Confirm attendance and incidents in the system, while the memory is fresh.

Then export the material: the table map, the lists of participants, of companies and of attendance, the incidents and the executive report. The indicators for attendance, conversations planned against held, table utilisation and people met are what supports the conversation with a sponsor at the next edition.

Continue with a matchmaking event checklist, what to do after the event and how to communicate better with the companies.

A well-run event day has one mark: the organizer talks to participants instead of looking at a screen.