1) Who they are and what their background is. The first person I spoke to is named Alex and he has experience in creating and maintaining mobile apps.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. Alex fills the slot of domain expert as he has lots of knowledge on building an app to be marketed towards a targeted demographic.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I found Alex through a mutual friend. My friend is currently enrolled in a program revolved around mobile app design and Alex had been helping him with a project. I contacted Alex through email and included my Idea Napkin for his feedback.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? Our email exchange was very laid back as we have a mutual friend in common. He read my Idea Napkin and offered some feedback on how to go about designing an app to fit the customer's needs and capture their initial interest in terms of marketing. There really wasn't any return expectation, but it did feel like a connection was made that could be used in the future.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity? This person brought up some great points that I hadn't even thought about, like how important it is to have a great name and logo to capture a customer's attention in the app store. If this app were to ever become a real thing, I feel like I could call on him for further advise or even have a working relationship.
1) Who they are and what their background is. The second person I spoke to was Michelle and she works for a vegan news blog.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. Michelle fills the slot of market expert because she works in the same industry that this app would be part of.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I contacted Michelle through the blog she works for by using the email they list in their contact section. I explained to her about this class and the project I am working on. I included my Idea Napkin and asked her is she'd be interested in offering some feedback.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? The exchange felt a bit more formal than the first, but it was still more relaxed than I thought it would be going in. We exchanged a few emails where she shared information on what it takes to stand out from the competition as well as the importance of presenting the information in an entertaining way. She asked me to keep her updated on if the app ever comes to market.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity? Michelle has a lot of knowledge regarding contacting manufacturers about their vegan products and has many connections with vegan brands. Having her in my network could help me make similar connections as well as gaining information on how to present information in entertaining listicles.
1) Who they are and what their background is. The third person I contacted was Janet and she has a background in working for a food distributor that works with local grocery stores.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot. Janet fills the slot of supplier because of her work history and her in-depth knowledge of grocery stores.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person. I found Janet because she is my friend's boss. I asked my friend if Janet would be interested in a quick conversation for my assignment and he gave me her phone number.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? We spoke on the phone for about twenty minutes in a semi-formal fashion. I told her about my product idea and expressed interest in what her job duties are. There wasn't a return expectation as she knew this was for an assignment.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity? Janet offered some helpful information about buyer habits and product stocking information that could be helpful in the future. She mentioned how vegan items fly off the shelves and how there are frequent requests for more vegan products.
Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How? I now know how valuable having mutual friends or acquaintances can be because it's like a connection is already halfway formed for you. In the future, I will remember how vital connections are and will make a better effort of keeping track of people's contact information in case I need it or someone else I know does. This experience wasn't like any networking experience I've ever had because we weren't in a setting in which both parties were at a place designated for networking. This experience had me reaching out to strangers for information regarding their expertise and it was a push outside my comfort zone.
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