A Speed Networking Event: Allowing Business Students to Apply Classroom-Taught Professional Networking Skills in a Fast-Paced Setting


Page 40 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 44, 2017 

 

ABSTRACT 
 

This paper discusses how one business school developed speed 
networking events in order to prepare students for introduction 
into the workplace while serving as a demonstration of how 
they engage their students with the business community.  The 
benefits of hosting a Speed Networking event are numerous.  
Stakeholders who gain from these events include students, 
potential employers, alumni and those who wish to demonstrate 
business school impact and engagement.  In addition to 
providing guidance in planning and executing the event, the 
paper provides details regarding how to recruit students, 
recruit professionals and best promote, create, and execute an 
experiential learning Speed Networking event. 

 
BACKGROUND 

 
The Scott College of Business is an AACSB International-

accredited College of Business that houses one of the largest 
academic programs at Indiana State University.  With a focus 
on experiential learning, the College fully supports the 
institutional emphasis on preparing students for their future 
professional careers. The University has embraced faculty 
efforts to encourage students to participate in experiential 
courses and imbedded projects that prepare them to be the 
leaders and decision makers once they enter into the work force 
(Hodge, Proudford, & Holt, 2014).  Resources have been 
dedicated to development of experiential projects designed to 
help students assess potential career paths and learn specific 
skills they will need when they start their career (Sprague and 
Percy, 2014). The College has also benefited from strong 
relationships with its professional alumni base and area 
employers who value such projects (Sprague and Hu, 2015).  
This is critical in providing opportunities for student 
engagement with external stakeholders. 

 
INTRODUCTION 

 
With the rising cost of higher education, it is critical that 

students and parents feel that they are getting value from their 
education and are employable after graduation.   Today’s 

business schools are under intense pressure to better prepare 
students for entry into the workplace and students and parents 
have come to expect a certain level of career readiness to be a 
critical component of the educational process.  While much 
career readiness development can take place in the classroom, 
experiential learning has become an increasingly critical 
component to the learning process of higher education (Green 
& Williams, 2016).  Bringing business professionals to students 
in a speed networking setting is one way to take professional 
engagement and networking to the next level.  Speed 
networking might be described as a networking event on 
“steroids.”   

Another issue affecting many business schools, particularly 
those accredited by AACSB International, is the expectation 
that they document the engagement of their faculty and students 
with the external business community while demonstrating the 
overall impact of their educational programs.  Networking 
events that actively connect students with professionals from 
the business community are prime examples of how “engaged” 
business schools improve the overall educational experience for 
their students.  And tracking subsequent employment and 
internship opportunities offer evidence of the impact of these 
career-focused programs.   

The Speed Networking Event detailed in this paper is 
important in addressing these and other issues.  The event 
allows business students an opportunity to utilize their 
networking skills with local business professionals, as well as 
continue to learn and develop professional networking skills in 
an experiential learning environment.  The speed component of 
the event modernizes the event, making it very popular with 
students and professionals alike. Schools that are accredited by 
AACSB International may use these events to demonstrate 
engagement on the part of students and faculty, while serving as 
an impetus for subsequent tracking of impact on employment 
and internship rates.  Students make contacts with professionals 
from a variety of industries and broaden their professional 
network, while the host department or college also benefits as it 
showcases its promising business students to a professional 
audience and fosters relationships with business leaders within 
the community.   

A Speed Networking Event:  
Allowing Business Students to Apply Classroom-Taught 
Professional Networking Skills in a Fast-Paced Setting 

 
Sara G. Williams 

Indiana State University 
Sara.williams@indstate.edu 

 
Ronald F. Green 

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina 
Ron.green@citadel.edu 

 
Kaitlin Diel 

Indiana State University 
Kaitlin.diel@indstate.edu 



Page 41 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 44, 2017 

 

CHOOSING THE STUDENTS 
 

When identifying students to participate in this type of 
speed networking event, there are several possible approaches 
with varying levels of control over who is involved.  The 
recommended method, ensuring the best turn out, involves an 
invitation only approach.  Three weeks prior to the event, 
business faculty are asked to nominate students that meet 
several criteria.  Faculty are asked for nominations three weeks 
prior to the event as that allows one week for the faculty to 
identify and nominate the students, one week to send the 
invitation and receive confirmation from the students, and one 
week for student preparation.   

When identifying the characteristics of students to 
participate in this type of networking event, the main objective 
must be considered.  This college of business currently offers 
several programs that provide its student members with 
numerous professional networking opportunities and therefore 
this event was designed to provide that type of experience to 
students not currently involved with such programs.  Also, by 
their junior and senior years, most students are heavily involved 
with interviewing and networking and their skills should 
already be developed and actively applied in their pursuit of 
internships and jobs.  For these reasons, the main objective is to 
provide experiential learning and application of networking 
skills for freshmen and sophomore business majors and minors 
that are not currently involved in any other programs that offer 
professional networking outside of the classroom.   

 
CREATING INTEREST IN  

STUDENTS AND FACULTY 
 

A key component to the success of this event is interest and 
support from both faculty and students.  Since this is a 
nomination driven event, it is critical for faculty to believe in 
and support the success of the event encourage attendance by 
their nominated students.  To assist with getting faculty fully on 
board supporting the speed networking event, they are each sent 
a personalized email detailing the purpose of this event in terms 
of student success, as well as how it will assist with the 
documentation of engagement of their faculty and students with 
the external business community.  Faculty need to be aware of 
the benefits of this event, across multiple dimensions, and how 
the success of this event will benefit the college as a whole.  
The email also outlines the timeline for the event and the 
criteria of nominees as follows: 

 

 Freshman or sophomore standing 

 Business major or minor 

 Not currently involved with any other programs in the 
college that offer this type of opportunity outside of the 
classroom 

 Showing commitment to their major, but needing to refine 
their professional skills 
 
A follow-up email from the office of the Dean is also 

effective at relaying the importance of this event and 
encouraging faculty support.  By communicating about the 
event on the administration, faculty, and student levels, a 
cohesive group is formed, all with the same goal of making the 
event a success. 

Along with faculty support, creating student interest is vital 
to the success of this event.  Student interest is often established 

through three key components.  First, faculty need to 
communicate the benefits of this event in terms of their 
professional development and future success.  Taking a few 
minutes in class or through email to their nominated students is 
often enough to start the fire of interest in students.  That fire 
continues to grow as they receive an official invitation from the 
director of the event, detailing that participation in this event is 
exclusive and receiving an invitation indicates their professor 
sees great potential in them as a future leader within their field.  
A final component to establishing excitement for this event is 
through word of mouth from other students that have 
participated, as well as communications about the professionals 
that will be at the event and the opportunity to network and get 
a foot in the door of various companies in the community.  
From their first freshmen business class, students should hear 
about the importance of networking with professionals from the 
business community and therefore they are often excited at their 
first attempt to network professionally. 

 
STUDENT PREPARATION 

 
Nominated students should be sent a personalized 

invitation to the speed networking event approximately 2 weeks 
prior to the event.   After accepting their invitation, students are 
expected to attend a brief information session where the director 
of the event addresses: 

 

 Required professional attire  

 Proper professional etiquette 

 Importance of a strong elevator pitch 

 Basic dos and don’ts of networking 
 

This session is brief and serves as a reminder of the skills 
they have already learned in their previous business classes. 
They should be provided with a folder of information to help 
with their preparation of the event. Students should also know 
which professionals they will be networking with, but students 
are discouraged from researching the professionals prior to the 
event.  The expectation is set that they will use this opportunity 
to apply the professional networking skills they have learned in 
the classroom.  While excitement should be created over the 
opportunity to network with professionals and leave with 
contacts within the local business community, the students need 
to also focus on the fact that this is an experiential learning 
experience and that the professionals are there to critique their 
professional presence and provide them with feedback.  This 
should be seen as a learning experience first, and a networking 
experience second.  It is recommended that each student send a 
professional follow-up thank you, either through mail or email, 
to each business professional that they meet through this event.   

 
CHOOSING THE “RIGHT” PROFESSIONALS  

 
By the day of the event, students are both excited to meet 

professionals from the business community as well as apply the 
skills they have only talked and learned about in the classroom.  
In order to make this experience most beneficial to these 
students, it is important that the “right” professionals be chosen.  
The size of the event depends on the resources available, but the 
model used by the director of the specific event addressed in 
this paper uses 26 professionals.  The professional participants 
need to be from a variety of industries in order to spark 
excitement across all business majors in attendance. Ideally, 



Page 42 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 44, 2017 

 

regardless of their major, each student will have a chance to 
network with at least 2 professionals from an  

organization related to their major field of interest.  This 
allows students to start establishing their own professional 
network early in their college career.  The “right” business 
professional will also be someone that realizes the importance 
of starting a professional network early and willing to be one of 
the first building blocks of a business major’s network.  Finally, 
the “right” professional will be able to come into the speed 
networking event and play the role of a professional interacting 
with someone as though they are at the start of a professional 
interview, allowing the student to:  

 

 Make a formal introduction 

 Give their professional elevator pitch 

 Participate in professional small talk 

 Ask questions 

 Answer questions about their major, career ambitions, etc. 
 

While they are playing the role of a business professional 
engaging in professional small talk, they also need to take 
mental notes of areas of improvement which will be useful 
when completing feedback forms for each student they met.  
After the event, the feedback forms will be provided to the 
students.  While feedback is encouraged, the main educational 
focus is practice.  The “right” professional will hopefully not 
judge the student for any professional shortcomings, rather see 
it as an exceptional learning experience for a student wanting to 
be their best.   

When identifying possible professionals for this event, 
reaching out through current faculty connections is often the 
most effective approach.  For the event being discussed in this 
paper, professionals were identified by reaching out to the 
faculty involved with this event, as well as to alumni that were 
established within the business community and eager to give 
back in a mentor-like fashion to their alma matter.  Once 
identified, potential participants were sent an invitation via 
email.  The email must convey three important ideas regarding 
the event: 
 

1. These are business students that need to practice and grow 
their networking skills outside of the classroom.  While 
providing feedback is encouraged, it should be understood 
that the students are still in the “learning and practicing” 
stages of their professional development. 

2. Students may wish to add them to their developing 
professional network and contact them in the future. 

3. This is an opportunity for them to help future business 
graduates and leaders establish the skills they will need to 
be successful in their careers.  By participating, they will 
potentially have a great impact on many of tomorrow’s 
business leaders. 

 

EVENT EXECUTION 
 

The specific event discussed in this paper was held in a 
large classroom within the college of business building.  There 
were 26 networking stations set up throughout the room with 
enough space between each to allow for as much privacy as 
possible.  Each station was preset with a name card identifying 
the professional at that station, a bottle of water, mints, pen, 
notepad with evaluation sheets for each student, and a thank 
you gift for the professional.  The professionals were led to their 
stations before the students arrived and allowed to make 
themselves comfortable.  Once all of the students were present, 

they each chose a station to start their speed networking 
experience and introduced themselves to their professional.  A 
welcome was given by the director of the event and instructions 
were communicated.  Each student was to spend 5 minutes 
talking to their professional.  At the end of the five minutes, a 
bell would ring and then the student would professionally close 
the conversation and excuse themselves to the next professional 
in the rotation.  The timer would restart and they would have 
another 5 minutes with the next professional.  There were 6 
rounds and the speed networking experience lasted 
approximately 30 minutes with each student going through their 
introduction, elevator pitch, small talk/Q and A, and closing 
with 6 different professionals.  The director of the event then 
gave a thank you to the entire group and directed all participants 
to a reception area where they could enjoy refreshments and 
further network with each other in a more casual atmosphere.  
The reception was also attended by any faculty and 
administration that wanted to meet with the students and/or 
meet with and thank the professionals that attended the event.  
This final reception experience not only allowed the 
professionals an opportunity to relax and network with each 
other, it also allowed the students a different type of networking 
experience that is typical at professional conferences and 
seminars that they will likely attend during their professional 
careers.    

 

FINAL ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSIONS 
 

After learning professional skills in the classroom and then 
practicing those skills in a professional setting, the learning 
process is made complete by receiving personalized feedback 
from each professional with whom they networked.  Each 
professional was provided a feedback form and evaluated the 
students’ networking and conversation abilities and then 
provided suggestions for improvement.  Given that the 
participating students appreciated the professional learning and 
development aspect of this event, they were receptive to any 
constructive criticism provided. The director of the event also 
reviewed all feedback to determine if any students needed extra 
coaching or encouragement in a one-on-one setting. This could 
be as simple as providing more information about the art of 
networking or to provide students with additional opportunities 
around the University and community to continue to practice 
and improve their networking skills. Students were also allowed 
to provide their personal feedback on this event.  This feedback 
not only allows for improvements to be made for future events, 
but it assists with making sure students understand the value of 
the event and continue to create excitement for future speed 
networking events amongst their peers.  

Successful execution of a speed networking event, such as 
the one discussed, will provide many levels of benefits.  For the 
professionals involved, it allows them an opportunity to be 
involved with their local university, network with faculty and 
students, and give their time to assist with the development of 
future business professionals.  For the university and college of 
business, this event can put their name in public sight and 
demonstrate a connection with the local business community, as 
well as be utilized as a direct measure for AACSB 
accreditation.  Finally, the students practice their professional 
communication skills with a group of professionals from a 
variety of industries that can have a direct impact on their future 
careers. For the specific event discussed in this paper, although 
a learning experience first, students gained mentors, interview 
opportunities, and internships through the connections that were 
made.   



Page 43 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 44, 2017 

 

Green, Ronald & Williams, Sara (2016). The Strategic 
Consulting Experience:  Providing Experiential Learning 
Opportunities Within and MBA Program.  Proceedings of 
the 2016 Annual Conference of ABSEL, The Association 
for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, New 
Orleans, LA.  

Hodge, Laurin, Proudford, Karen, & Holt Jr, Harry (2014). 
From periphery to core: The increasing relevance of 
experiential learning in undergraduate business education.  
Research in Higher Education Journal, 26, Number 2. 

Sprague, Mary & Hu, Olivia (2015), Assessing the value to 
client organizations of student practicum projects. Journal 
of Public Affairs Education, 21 (2), 263-280. 

Sprague, Mary & Percy, R. C. (2014). The immediate and long-
term impact of practicum experiences on students. Journal 
of Public Affairs Education, 20 (1), 91–111. 

REFERENCES