SOCAP has always been more than an economic movement; it is a human movement. COVID-19 has forced us to distance ourselves—including by moving our annual event to be a virtual conference— but, at the same time, has brought us together—it is when you have been deprived of connection that the value of collaboration becomes most clear.
We believe a defining moment lies ahead. Now, more than ever, our community needs to stay connected and engaged. Our collective work needs to accelerate, and for that to happen, we need to be able to find our allies in the crowd.
When we chose to present SOCAP as a virtual conference, we knew the biggest risk was in missing the serendipitous connections. We have worked to ensure SOCAP Virtual attendees will still be able to engage in spur-of-the-moment, one-on-one conversations, after-hours get-togethers, and even on-stage Q&A directly with our esteemed panelists and presenters.
Here are eight ways you’ll be able to network, connect, and spur collective efforts at our SOCAP Virtual conference:
1. Filter through our attendees by market segment, industry, thematic interest, title, organization and more to find your allies in the crowd. If you’re an entrepreneur committed to climate action, find the other players in the ecosystem who can help bring your vision to life. If you’re committed to investing for equitable health care access around the globe, you can reach out directly to others who are working toward the same goal.
2. Video chat 1-on-1 through our platform with attendees at any time during the conference. You might love what you see in a session chat and wish you could learn more about the person and their organization—this tool allows you to do just that.
3. Enter one of our thematic lounges to interact with fellow attendees who share your interests. These are open-ended, unfacilitated group conversations centered around topics and issues that are being centered throughout the week’s sessions.
4. Get connected randomly to other attendees for a video chat with the matchmaking tool. This is the closest to meeting a new friend in the buffet line as is possible!
5. Attend a scheduled networking session in the agenda, whether it be a morning breakfast or an evening wind down.
6. Participate in a breakout session and meet valuable strangers that share your interests and work together on an issue or topic presented in the breakout. We want everyone to leave with a sense of having taken real action and built new connections—and this is one great way to jumpstart that opportunity.
7. Find and take part in a sponsor-organized session by browsing the Digital Pavilion to see what non-core programming might be going on! You’ll find wine-downs, presentations, after hour Q&As with speakers and more.
8. Participate in the mainstage and session chat and share your thoughts. One of our core principles is elevating the wisdom of the crowd —help us bring that wisdom to the forefront by joining the presenters on-stage or chatting directly with other attendees throughout a session and throughout the week. Love something you heard in a session? You can share it with all the other attendees and open yourself up to all new connections who were equally inspired.
