Optim East

Pretty good analysis. Even if the beginning was bit... risky.

I'd like to add one thing though, but this time not towards the organizers, but for the networkers.
Make sure to know why the event you are willing to attend is good for you, and how to you see yourself fitting in.
... Read More
On another hand, try to understand what the purpose of the event ? Why are the organizer doing it ? Networking events are not raising money, so what is the reason to do this particular event ?

To be a better networker and don't waist your time in all the event being hold every day around the city, you will have to ask yourself those questions.

Regarding NextStep, we have been trying to bring people together, so that they can help each others and interact with each others. We have been doing that for nearly 50 events, and we have been pretty successful. But now things have to change. Our brand is reliable and we have now to go back to quality. We also believe that smaller is better, but we had to follow a branding strategy that took us a year.

For us, it was a way to create a brand and built others interesting tool like www.nextstepshanghai.com (where different website are RSS Fed and where you can find event listing) and also www.nextstepdirectory.com which started as a directory for business services in Shanghai in March 2008 and is now becoming a marketing plateform for the companies in Shanghai, where people can submit their companies for free.

Good work Manuel. Can't wait for the next one.

interesting approach. Keep the good work !