I held Rubber Chicken IV at  Maggiano’s in Boston. 30 guests joined us for an evening of delicious Italian food and many fast yet intense conversations with colleagues and peers. We created an official Rubber Chicken IV soundtrack, as well as “beak breakers.” The beak breakers took some serious time to make; however, I think they helped to provide fuller networking experiences. Since we knew most everyone who joined us, and were aware of their likes and dislikes, we created cards design to help make sure that the right people met and quickly discovered why they were introduced.

For example, a beak breaker might say:

For Bob

• Ask Steve G. for a tip about video blogging
• Ask Jake for advice on time management
• Ask Zach B to share an embarrassing Facebook story
  

Essentially, we helped identify the people Bob should speak with and suggested a few questions to spark meaningful conversation.

The only disappoint for me was the event service Evite. Without my direct knowledge, they sent two reminders to more than 50 people about the event. They also sent a follow up email requesting that my friends and colleagues share their photos. They should know better than emailing my contacts without explicit permission, especially when they are representing that email comes from me. While there are many other services I could use, I think that people are more inclined to open an “evite,” rather than an invitation from a startup with which they are not familiar. If you have another service you like, I would appreciate the recommendation.