Think back to the last networking event you attended. Sure, there was conversation and small talk and ice being broken, but how would you judge the overall level of engagement? With smartphones as a ready-made crutch for attendees feeling anything less than glib, technology hasn’t necessarily made networking any easier.
That’s where
comes in.
The company, which works out of both 1871 and Catalyze Chicago, is a wearable tech company making it easier to find and connect with people with similar interests at networking events.
“We saw the state of social connection or human interaction — particularly as it relates to networking — being pulled down due to technology devices,” said Proxfinity co-founder Christine Hutchison. “We wanted to create something that pulls the user experience and their eye level face to face. The user can now look out into a networking environment and visually connect with someone on a shared interest.”
It works like this: event attendees use an app to preload the device with basic info about themselves — like the types of people they’re looking to connect with or social and professional interests. Then, users can clip Proxfinity’s smart badge to a lanyard and head off to the event. Whenever someone in their proximity shares an interest with them, both badges will light up with one another’s initials, prompting a low-risk conversation starter.
In other words, it’s a tech-enabled ice breaking facilitator.
Proxfinity’s tech is backed by two patents, and it’s not just in the business of making connections. The company also automatically shares and organizes contact information between users and provides event organizers with a dashboard of attendee data (like interests and matching patterns) post-event. That way, they can make data-informed decisions while they plan their next meeting.
Hutchison said professional meetings and events is a mammoth, $140 billion industry, and the majority of the company’s clients face a similar issue.
“There’s a problem in the networking environment. Our clients — corporate meeting planners, event organizers — are having a hard time offering a truly enhanced networking environment,” she said.
The company hopes it’ll stand out as a solution.
Proxfinity officially launched just three weeks ago at Las Vegas’ EventTech 2015 conference and is helmed by Hutchison and her two co-founders Lisa Carrel and Mike Howells.
Photos via Proxfinity.
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