Remember the days? You know, the ones where you would go out to network, face to face? Shaking hands was a soft touch yet an important element in the making of an initial connection. Following this, an exchange of business cards would often take place. Long considered the first tangible impression of your business, the business card—to this day— has also remained the most professional way to introduce yourself and your business.
Then COVID-19 hit. And all – that was once par for the course when networking – had to flip and pivot.
With lightning speed, the pandemic has worked its way around the globe, causing worldwide panic and turning the way in which we connect upside down. Fear of contagion outranked the need for physical contact and forced us out of the workplace and into our homes. Networking as well as meetings, moved online. Rapidly.
This threw many businesses into a tailspin, particularly event-based businesses that had long prided their success on bringing people together—in person—to connect, learn, network, grow and collaborate. Pappyon was also thrown off track. After all, as the pandemic was breaking, we were all geared up to introduce our platform as the new and wonderful way for people in business to connect quickly when meeting face to face! Since then, we have pivoted to redesign Pappyon in the endeavour of delivering a solution that answers the following question, which has been thrown up time and time again.
How do we connect easily in a non face-to-face-world?
COVID-19 sent traditional business networking to the grave. Conferences, training, seminars and exhibitions were cancelled overnight. The business world was sent into a whirlwind as companies had to radically redesign their digital strategies to keep their people connected. Use of platforms such as Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom thrived and a new normal for networking emerged. Daily meeting participants on Zoom alone, increased from 10 million in December to 200 million in March. Video conferencing brought people back together, taking centre stage as one of the most defining technologies of 2020.
Traditional networking may have died, but it sure was reborn. With a vengeance as the Zoom statistics above reveal! There is, however, one big element that remains missing – the ability to connect at a virtual event just as easily as you once would have when meeting, shaking hands and seamlessly exchanging business cards. Whilst the handshaking needs to remain parked for some time to come, the Pappyon team are proud as punch to be incorporating a feature into its platform that will streamline, not only the way you connect when you do get to meet face to face but also in a virtual world! Watch here to see how.
We cannot wait to enhance and professionalise the way you connect online. To rid you of the burden of leaving any meeting or event (virtually or otherwise) and then having to trawl socials to find the people you were chatting with. To remove the frustration of having to start all over again by re-introducing yourself rather than taking the next step towards the building of a strong business relationship.
Check out the Pappyon website to learn more on why people in business are registering to embrace us as their “new normal’ for business connection. Join us if you feel we have a great solution for your business too! One that will streamline the way you connect, build trust and create opportunity all in the endeavour of fostering real connection for better business.