Matt Kepple

The Gradulicious Young Professionals Network is aimed at people who do not see themselves as networking material. It’s for recent graduates who have been working for under 3 years and who work in a diverse range of companies - i.e. investment bankers to marketing managers to aspiring actors. The network empowers these people to make their ideas happen by:

making it easier and more enjoyable for them to network by shifting the focus from Making Business Connections to Getting To Know Like-Minded People; this results in potentially profitable business connections being made which would otherwise not have.

getting grads to believe that they can make their ideas happen, whether in the workplace or entrepreneurially, by inspiring them with the stories of entrepreneurs within their peer group.

I am aware that many grads want to make ideas happen but believe that they are not creative enough to have ideas, have no idea how to go about making an idea happen.

More importantly, I’m also aware that grads want more opportunities to get to know like-minded people.

My mother met Maria, the founder of the Jongleurs chain of comedy clubs, at my sister’s Duke of Edinburgh Award. Mrs. Kepple was incessant in her chatter about me which resulted in Maria asking her to put us in touch.

Above all, make it enjoyable:

Think about ambience - lighting/sound/venue

Think about how the individuals will feel - comfort/seating arrangement/facilities (e.g. bar) - ensure people don’t feel intimidated

Consider your audience. If it’s for first-timers, consider making it natual (i.e. normal, not naked!) - allow people the freedom to move around instead of feeling stuck in a fixed position in which they’ve got to go from 0-60 in 30 seconds as though they were speed-dating. Encourage people to get involved in other people’s conversations as opposed to doing one-on-ones the whole time.

Make it easy to connect with people after the event - a social networking website (or group on Facebook) would be ideal however a page with photos and contact numbers would do the job - just make sure that everyone involved is kosher and people don’t abuse the system in an effort to get numbers of pretty girls… or boys. (Unless of course everyone’s cool with that.)