Venue and layout

You can't control the conversations — but you can control the conditions they happen in. A good venue removes friction. A bad one introduces problems that no amount of planning can overcome.

53% Meetings have exactly 2 attendees

47% Meetings have 3+ attendees

47% Meetings involve presentations

Noise control

• Leave enough space between tables — if it's too loud, people will simply leave
• Choose carpet over hard floors: it dampens noise significantly
• One person talking is a bee you can barely hear. A room of 300 people on hard floors is deafening
• Avoid glass water bottles — the clinking multiplies across hundreds of tables
• Screeching chairs on hard floors ruin focus in nearby meetings

Hotel quality

• Check the bed quality of the hotel before booking — good sleep leads directly to better meetings
• Pick a venue with things to do inside or nearby: a pool, a great restaurant, outdoor space
• These create natural opportunities for serendipitous connections that no schedule can manufacture

Meeting structure

Meeting length is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make. Too short and it's 99% pitch. Too long and the schedule breaks down. The sweet spot is wide enough to build real rapport.

Think of it like dating: You wouldn't meet your future spouse in a 60-second interaction. The same principle applies to a meeting that's supposed to end in a signed contract.

Duration guidelines

• Minimum 5 minutes per meeting — anything less is not a meeting, it's a handshake
• 7–15 minutes is the recommended sweet spot
• Longer is always better — cap at 50 minutes per meeting
• Leave at least 5 minutes for relationship-building, not just pitching

Seating and table setup

• 53% of meetings have 2 people; 47% have 3 or more — plan table size accordingly
• Europeans often prefer sitting beside each other rather than across — account for wider tables
• Decide on a meeting language in advance and communicate it clearly to all attendees
• 47% of meetings involve presentations — consider power at tables, but manage cables carefully (tripping hazards)

Keeping the schedule

Schedule discipline is one of the single biggest differences between A-shows and D-shows. When meetings run over and breaks are ignored, the entire event unravels meeting by meeting.

Don't run speakers or roundtables during meeting time. It confuses people and almost guarantees late arrivals to the next meeting. First-hand data shows roundtables during meeting time directly caused over 85% of meetings to become no-shows.

Clock visibility

• Make the clock clearly visible from every seat in the room
• Ideally use a dedicated meeting timer — a tool like Backtrack works well for this
• One thing at a time: don't try to run two activities simultaneously

Break time formula

• 60 seconds of buffer per 100 tables for travel time — build this into the schedule
• "They'll figure it out" doesn't work. They won't. Budget the time explicitly.
• Assume everyone will go 60 seconds over their meeting — design accordingly
• Have floor workers physically move people who don't move at the break signal

Break signals and music

• Too low volume or too "nice" a sound and people don't move — they keep talking
• Must be loud enough to clearly signal that the meeting is over
• Not so annoying that people resent it — find the balance
• Consider building a dedicated break sound library for your show

Table markers

• Make table markers easy to read and find instantly
• "F5" is easier to navigate to than "WT2" or "C1245"
• Premium table signage signals that you care about the details — not folded paper

Creating serendipity

The best meetings at your show might not be on anyone's schedule. Your job is to create the conditions for those accidental, life-changing connections to happen.

• Pick a gorgeous resort with activities inside or nearby — golf, spa, restaurants
• Build buffer time into the schedule where people can wander and connect
• If your event were a restaurant full of first dates, how would you help all the dates go well?
• Consider hosting a "free for all" at the end — 3–5 minutes for sellers to approach anyone they didn't get to meet

"The meetings outside your official schedule may be more valuable than the ones on it. Design the whole day, not just the meeting floor."