Social networking online is a great way to further your connections, and while some think it might be hurting the potential of meeting people face-to-face, the exact opposite is true.

We’ve talked about the tools we use in social media repair and follow-up with contacts met at events and conferences…

Here’s a fascinating story, a trip to Dublin where planning and focus ended up making it more profitable than you might imagine.

Social Networking with Small Events

From The Next Web

Paddy Cosgrave is no stranger to the tech conference scene.  The driving force behind the Dublin Web Summit, he and his team are gearing up for another massive event this coming October.  While the event itself is a year long preparation, Paddy has recently been spotted making appearances at much smaller, back-to-the-roots events, namely by way of the Pub Summit series.

The Pub Summit 100 event series is taking place in 40 countries across 5 continents over the course of 2013, all with a single focus – ing people together and provide them with the opportunity to socialize and grow their networks.

Vienna, Austria recently played host to a Pub Summit, and I had the opportunity to sit down with Paddy to discuss the roots of these events, what makes them special, why large conferences are still very important, and what and how conference and attendees can do to make the very most out of them.

“There are lots of different formats for meet-ups, and a lot of them are centered around content. But I feel that if you really want great content, you can just go on YouTube, and no matter who you’re looking to learn from, you can find a talk that they’ve done.  Being lectured by a single person in a room of 100 people is a missed opportunity for those 100 people to mingle and meet each other.  And the one thing we don’t do less and less of is spending time socializing with like minded people.”The rules of the Pub Summit series are simple: No pitching, a few words from the co-hosts, and no guest speakers.

“It’s booze, and good people.  The Irish have been perfecting it for generations.”

When asked if these smaller type events should be the way of the future, eschewing massive conferences, Paddy comments, “Big isn’t necessarily better.  A 5, 6, 7 thousand person Web Summit with 300 speakers, spread over three days, isn’t automatically a great experience.  You’ve got to look at these people and recognize, what are the communities within that group.  Bringing all of these people together is actually a great opportunity to create smaller spaces and sideline events.  You’ve got iPhone designers, well why can’t they all go together for a eakfast?  Why can’t there be dinners across the city hosted by curators of different communities?  During the day, it’s a great opportunity to be inspired by great speakers in a huge auditorium.  But on the periphery, you’ve got to create an ecosystem where you can go and meet individuals.”

See full story on thenextweb.com