While planning for the Blog Indiana conference next month, an idea was put forth about a creative way to have some fun with a normal networking event. The concept involves having people wear “tags” or keywords representing areas of expertise or knowledge they have.

The idea is if everyone wears 2-3 tags, others will easily see who knows what and it will prompt discussions that may not have otherwise happened. We’ve been calling this concept PeopleTagging.

For example, I may see someone at a networking event who is tagged with “videocasting” or “photography.” Both are areas I have an interest in, but am only at the hobbyist level. I would definitely want to strike up a conversation with those two. Whereas, normally in a crowded room of people, I may have never had the chance to randomly start chatting with that person.

This concept may also work well as a replacement for name tags (or word just below/above name tags).

At the Blog Indiana conference next month, we’ll be trying this concept out with actual buttons attendees will get to “tag” themselves with during the conference. Think of it as a conference-long networking booster! You can read more about our plans at our conference blog.

What are some unique activities you’ve seen at networking events?