It’s time to take the work out of networking
Let your (highly purposeful) work events rip
CHERRY ON TOP 🍒 is our monthly newsletter exploring the ins and outs of everything that modern businesses need to truly shine. We dive into topics that live at the intersection of our two companies – ORCHARD STREET, a seed fund & DALY, a comms+ agency – as both help founders get the best ideas out into the world, through outstanding operations, comms, and culture-building.Alex here! The idea that events are back is not news. And while the returned appetite for events may feel familiar — and in some ways reminiscent of pre-pandemic times — the way people choose which events to attend looks a whole lot different, and means that events these days need to feel way more special.
Between rollercoaster threats of a recession, hybrid and remote work now being the norm, chic venues expanding onto sidewalks, and the buzziest party reviews coming out of Substack, the deciding factor for why we should attend an event — and how we remember it — has changed.
So, it’s time for hosts to throw out the corporate event playbook and lean into planning a party like a person, not a corporation.
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I love to throw parties. Growing up, having a Halloween birthday meant costume parties galore. Come the holidays, my parents would host their annual “Holi-Daly” extravaganza, where we would roast a pig in our Miami backyard and dance until the morning hours to a live salsa band.
As I took over the hosting reins, my style evolved from throwing quirky pre-games and Halloween ragers in my college era, to planning cozy, intimate dinner parties and all-night apartment soirées in my twenties — and later, high-design stoop sales and toddler birthdays, which both inevitably turned into memorable parties themselves.
When I launched Daly, I applied this passion for entertaining to work events, inviting people into my home for candlelit late nights— no stuffy, badly-lit corporate get-togethers here — and people couldn’t stop talking about them. So, when we were thinking of our next Cherry on Top topic, my lovely colleague Caitlin had the idea to dive into our unique approach to networking and hosting:
This is how we do it 🎶🎶👇
Party with a purpose
In the early days of Daly ragers, fun was the name of the game. Our main measure of success was the number of “amazing party!” texts we received the day after. But if we were going to justify continuing to put any budget behind these endeavors, we needed to start thinking about tangible goals — and yes, ROI!
Towards the end of last year, Axios’ Eleanor Hawkins touched upon the subject of the changing nature of events in her story “Goodbye Zoom: In-person events are back (and different) after pandemic lull”:
“There's interest in smaller, more curated formats like membership retreats, salon dinners, roundtables or programmed receptions that target very specific, high-level attendees and encourage more engagement and networking opportunities...[and] regardless of the format, there is real power in being the entity or organization that convenes the right people in the right place.”
The party for a party’s sake days have long been over — and that’s a good thing. Brands and agencies are making the effort to frame the events they produce within the context of how they reaffirm or further the company’s goals — which means the events actually have the potential to build lasting community and results for those companies.
And it’s not just smaller brands and agencies who have been more compelled to consider these new types of events; enterprise companies who once leaned on galas and massive conferences are also trying to figure out an overhauled approach that increases impact and decreases wasteful spending.
Now, at the onset of any event-planning sessions, our team huddles to discuss:
What are we hoping to get out of this event?
What’s our priority outcome, and how will we measure success?
And, who needs to be in the room, and why?
With that in mind, it often all starts with the guest list…
Crowd control
These days, we keep our attendee numbers tight and curated by plotting out attendance goals that ultimately ladder up to the goals of the business. Because, let’s be honest, in all the excitement around throwing a party, it's tempting to invite every person you know and like — but the art of event hosting is all about selecting a thoughtful group around similar interests, aims, and purposes.
To create the perfectly curated guest list, you have to start by asking yourself the right (and sometimes tough) questions:
Do we want this event to turn into new business conversions? If so, let’s invite those prospects that didn’t turn into clients to re-warm the relationship.
Do we want social content out of this? Let’s make sure we have a few moments that feel capturable, without going overboard, or having an aesthetic that overrides flow or function.
Do we want to celebrate a milestone or launch? Messaging should be clear, so that attendees can remember this exciting moment!
Do we have news to share? Let’s invite journalists who we think could benefit from hearing the news from us firsthand in a cool IRL setting.
Vibe-setting
When you get the best people together, vibes are so incredibly crucial to make it a successful event. In fact, the vibes are what take a work event to non-work event potential.
At Daly, this is how we typically vibe-set our events:
I am a bonafide playlist geek. Music and acoustics are crucial! Make sure to pick someone on the team with the best music taste to command the playlist, and check on the speakers ahead of time.
Bright, LED lighting is truly never good for any setting. We always want the room to feel warm with soft lighting — as if it’s fully lit by candles. Venue permitting, sometimes this means bringing in actual candles — but otherwise, dimming overhead lights in favor of standing / table lamps can work in a pinch.
Intimacy is a value at Daly, so we try to keep the venue spaces themselves smaller and more intimate — from dinner parties in a private home, to small panels in a backyard, or a cozy bar. No cavernous conference rooms or meeting halls in sight!
Have a fun, creative drink specially made, and yummy NA options. We like a mix of highbrow and lowbrow, so that can be a giant paint tin of potato chips and a fancy cocktail, or PBRs and delicious cheese.
Don’t forget the special touches. Leave takeout boxes on the food table for folks to take some leftovers home. And what are special party-favors that are not wasteful, but also memorable? At a recent networking dinner, we had beaded bracelets with everyone’s names made by an Etsy creator — because who wants to ruin their carefully curated party outfit with an ugly stick-on name tag?
Clockwise from left: 1) For DIY “surround sound” we set up speakers in the backyard AND cracked the upstairs window so the 2nd floor speakers could filter out too 2) Candles bring mood to the next level 3) Bar so smol & cozy! 4) Daly-branded seltzer 5) Put a pear on it! 6) Speciality Etsy bracelets > ugly sticker name tags forever! And remember, with all of these ideas, make sure vibes match the crowd and purpose — i.e. if you want to encourage chatting and networking (lower music, a teeny-bit brighter, and less crowded space) vs. you’re just wanting people to have a good time to (moodier, noisier). We make vibe adjustments for all of our work events, so that we can achieve our audience and event goals.
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In the end, most events aren’t worth the budget nor the time in throwing them, unless you’re going to put the intentionality into doing them right. You can do a lot on a small budget if you're purposeful about getting the right people in the room, and creating the right atmosphere with a few key choices. Be ruthless with your guest list. Outsource the things you're not good at, but let yourself become intricately invested in the things that are your strong suits.
The Cherry on Top: If you’re going to do it, do it right — make the event your own, and make it memorable. And if you don’t have the time, funds, or energy to throw the right kind of party for your goals, then maybe skip the event in favor of another approach. Because nothing is worse than a party with a dispassionate host!
