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# Speed networking not a new concept
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/speed-networking-not-a-new-concept/
- Published: 2004-03-13T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:01:44.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import

possibly come away with a potential business partner.

“We want the speed networking to be results-oriented — how businesses can work together, bring other businesses in the mix,” Dodson said.

Dodson said the new format is designed to counteract the pitfalls of other networking events. More than 100 people attend chamber luncheons, but members said they often only interact with the people sitting next to them.

Dodson said that if speed networking is successful, the chamber might put on an event every other week.

The format has been useful in other cities. During the Dot Com slump in the Silicon Valley, speed networking events set up partnerships between entrepreneurs and angel investors.

The La Vista, Neb. Chamber of Commerce was the first city in the Midwest to use the technique. After starting in July with 60 participants, the city’s bi-monthly speed networking event now draws more than 200, including business people from other cities, said the chamber’s event coordinator, Blair Sinnett.

“You’re guaranteed 75 contacts by the end of the night,” said Sinnett, who is in charge of blowing a whistle every three minutes to indicate it is time to go on another “date.”

Dodson said she is excited about what speed networking can bring to the Santa Monica Chamber.

“We want it to be serious in terms of trying to get business, but casual and relaxed and experimental and fun,” Dodson said.

The concept of speed networking was born a few years ago when a California company was formed to match up unemployed people with employers. Terri Tiemann, who was a director for the “Lay-off Lounge,” said the company coined the “speed networking” term after massive lay-offs ensued in 2001\. The events consisted of three-to five-minute meetings with employers and those seeking work. They then had break out sessions where participants could pitch themselves to employers and then interact with one another.

“Everyone had an opportunity to talk,” said Tiemann, who now runs Marina del Ray-based Annandale & Associates, a recruiting firm. “It was a concentrated effort for each person’s agenda.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 13, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031304.pdf?ref=smdp.com)