In this segment of a conference facilitation, the presenter introduces a quick, three‑minute networking activity using blue "connection cards." Attendees are instructed to stand up, find a person they haven’t met, high‑five, and then exchange three pieces of information: name, role, and the question printed on the card. The presenter emphasizes that the card’s question is a springboard for deeper, curiosity‑driven conversation, encouraging participants to listen actively and follow up with their own questions. The activity’s goal is to push attendees out of their comfort zones, foster genuine curiosity, and build reciprocal relationships that can provide mutual value beyond the event. The facilitator reinforces the importance of relationship‑building as one of the most valuable outcomes of conferences.
Chapters
Those blue cards are called connection cards, and that's the activity we're going to go through over the next 3 minutes. And very simply, with that card, in just a moment, I'm going to ask you to stand up, and instead of meeting and having a conversation and discussing this with somebody that's already at your table, that you may already be familiar with, I'm going to encourage you to be a little bit uncomfortable and go and shake the hand of someone that you haven't yet met to to build a relationship that might benefit you more than you know. You have 3 minutes to do 3 things. The first is you'll share your name. The second is you'll share your role. And finally, you're going to share the question that is on that blue card. When you meet that new partner, when you begin to have that conversation, you share your name and your role and you share the question. The question on the card is not the most important question you're going to have in that conversation. Because if you are sincerely curious, if you're really listening with curiosity, that question will open the door to the most important one that you will have in any conversation, which is the next one. So I'd encourage you, when you get up in just a moment, when I say the word that starts with G and ends with O, you're going to get up, you're going to high-five a new partner, and you're going to have 3 minutes to go through that very quick conversation Name, role, share your question, and then ask the next one. Make sense? Any questions for me? If you need an extra card, I've got a couple up here. Mark, get set, Geronimo! Soon as we find a partner, I'll start our clock.
Thank you.
I really do believe that one of the best experiences of any conference or meeting like this, one of the most valuable parts, is being able to build a relationship and get to know somebody that you'll be able to pour into, provide value to, but that you'll be able to benefit from knowing as well.
