Networking with EVA: help attendees find relevant people

Clara arrives at a professional event in Madrid with a fairly specific aim: she wants to meet suppliers who can help reduce waste at her events. The hall is full of badges, conversations and people she does not know how to identify. There is a coffee break. Finding the right person is still her responsibility.

As the organiser, you may have brought together a relevant audience and a useful programme, but there is a missing step between “there are people here who could interest you” and “start by talking to these people”. EVA can help at that point: attendees explain what they are looking for and receive relevant profiles from the event, when the data and integration are prepared.

The value lies in turning an intention into a specific search. The person then decides whom to meet and how to approach them.

Start with what the attendee wants to achieve

“I’m interested in sustainability” helps, but leaves many possibilities open. Clara might want to learn, buy a service, meet peers or find clients. Each purpose changes the recommendation.

During registration, you can ask which topics interest people and which types of professional they hope to meet. It is worth separating the two. An agency director looking for suppliers of reusable materials is not necessarily asking to meet other agency directors.

Prepare questions that suit the gathering. At a technical congress, specialism might matter; at a commercial event, the type of company and the need someone wants to address may be more useful. Generic questions leave you interpreting answers that might mean different things.

Those answers feed the information available to EVA. Conversation adds detail: Clara can explain that she needs a supplier for corporate events and works with formats that move between cities. The assistant now has something more useful than a topic label.

From “I want to meet people” to a search you can act on

Conversational search means Clara does not have to begin by browsing a directory herself. She can ask for someone by name, look for a company or describe a professional profile and its relevance to what she needs.

In EVA’s integration with Eventscase, that search uses public profiles of other attendees at the same event. The reply can include a name, company, role, public description and profile link. Availability depends on an active integration, an identified user and the function being enabled for the event.

For example, with the necessary profiles available:

Clara: I’m looking for someone who works with reusable materials for corporate events. Where could I start?

EVA: The event’s public profiles include Laura, the commercial manager of a reusable materials company. Her description says she works on builds for corporate events. You can view her profile to see whether it matches what you need.

Clara: What about someone from an agency that has already used them?

EVA: We can also look for agency profiles related to that topic. That lets you explore another part of what you need.

The scene shows two different searches: a possible supplier and someone with experience using the materials. Conversation lets the attendee refine the criteria without starting again.

The reply needs to be based on the information available. A profile saying “event production” is not enough to claim that someone has worked with reusable materials. When that detail is missing, the assistant should acknowledge it so Clara can check the profile or ask the person.

There are several ways to recommend people

A recommendation does not always mean “people like you”. The recommendations interface in the Eventscase integration offers three approaches: profiles matching your interests, profiles similar to yours and people with similar interests.

For organisers, distinguishing them helps prepare the experience:

What the person wants	What to look for	What we should not infer
Find a supplier for a particular need	A profile related to that need	That everyone interested in the topic is a supplier
Meet peers doing similar work	Similar professional profiles	That they have the same commercial objectives
Talk to people who want to learn about a topic	Shared interests	That they share a role, company or buying authority

You can present these options according to the event. At a professional gathering, meeting peers might be the main interest. At an exhibition, someone looking to buy a service needs a different kind of candidate.

EVA helps people formulate and resolve these searches. The quality of the result still depends on the information the event makes available.

Prepare profiles before promising networking

The organiser’s work starts with the data sources. Review what arrives from registration, what information describes each person and which profiles are available for public search.

A record with a name and company gives less context than one explaining activities, specialisms and interests. Registration should not become an interrogation either. Choose questions you will use to make recommendations and explain how the answers will be used.

In a pre-event test, use realistic requests: “I want to meet production managers”, “I’m looking for someone from this company” or “I’d like to talk to accessibility suppliers”. Check whether relevant candidates appear and whether the link leads to the right profile.

Also test a search without an obvious match. You need to know how EVA responds when the information is insufficient. Inventing a match would be worse than explaining that no one meeting those criteria has been found.

You can prepare a short message to tell attendees that the function exists. “Tell EVA which types of professional you would like to meet” describes a clear action. “Enjoy intelligent networking” leaves the audience guessing what to do.

Finding a profile is the start of the connection

After receiving a recommendation, attendees need to decide whether the profile interests them and take the next step within your event experience. They can view the profile and use the contact options available there.

Define that process before presenting it. Opening a profile, sending a request and sharing contact details are different actions. Do not advertise automatic phone number exchanges or arranged meetings if your configuration does not offer that process.

At an in-person event, you can also help beyond the screen: an identifiable meeting area or a dedicated networking slot gives people a setting for starting a conversation. EVA provides candidates and references; event design still influences what happens next.

For Clara, a useful result might be two profiles worth exploring. If she ends up speaking with one of them, that is a separate signal. Neither should be counted as though it were a confirmed meeting.

Check what the recommendation contributed

Before the event, decide what you need to learn. You might want to know whether attendees find relevant profiles, understand how to search or find recommendations useful for starting conversations.

Available system activity and audience feedback provide different information. A search shows that someone used the function. Their feedback helps establish whether the results made sense. To claim that a meeting occurred, you need a source that confirms it.

You can give EVA a feedback objective related to the experience, when it fits the conversation: “Have you found any profiles that are useful to you?” or “What kind of person have you been unable to find?” The second question might reveal a gap in the audience invited, rather than just in the tool.

That learning helps prepare the next edition: improve registration questions, describe profiles better or invite groups that were missing. Networking starts to provide organisers with knowledge as well as giving attendees direction.

With EVA, we can prepare that process around your audience, data sources and available integration. Tell us which connections you want to facilitate and we can review the information and experience needed to support them.

Frequently asked questions

Can EVA search for a specific person?

The Eventscase integration supports searches by name, company and role, as well as affinity searches. It must be prepared for that event and use the profiles available.

Will it recommend every registered attendee?

The search described uses public profiles of other attendees at the same event. Registering does not make all of someone’s information public.

Does a recommendation guarantee a meeting?

No. It helps attendees find relevant candidates and view their profiles. A meeting depends on what the people decide and the connection options you have prepared.

Do we need to collect interests during registration?

They provide a useful starting point. You can also collect more detail through conversation. Before asking, decide what information you need for recommendations and what EVA will receive from your sources.