Open networking vs booked meetings: which format for which event

There are two basic ways to run networking at an event. In open networking, people mingle, decide for themselves whom to talk to, and confirm afterwards who they met. In booked meetings, people request one-to-one meetings that get a time and, often, a table. The right choice depends on how your event is built: what the agenda looks like, how many people there are, and what you want to report afterwards.

What is open networking?

Open networking is a format with no booked slots. Attendees browse who is at the event, and when they want to talk to someone they say so. After the conversation, both people confirm that they met. The event has no schedule of meetings. People move around the room.

On Kohtaa, open mode works with two actions. Get in touch sends another attendee a short note, up to 300 characters, saying why you want to talk. If they accept, the two can see each other's contact details. Nothing is shared before acceptance, and the organizer never sees the details. We met is pressed by each of the two people after they have talked; a mutual "We met" counts as a connection.

A few rules protect people from unwanted contact. A request that is declined is final for that pair at that event, though the person who declined can still start contact themselves. A request that was withdrawn cannot be sent again for 24 hours. There is one open request per pair per event.

Open networking works where the point is to meet people and the room itself is the schedule: an evening with drinks, a founder meetup, a community event, the break time of a conference.

What are booked meetings?

Booked meetings are one-to-one meetings that people request from each other, with a time and, if you use a grid, a table. One person proposes a slot, the other accepts, declines or proposes another time, and the meeting is fixed. The organizer manages the slots and where people sit.

On Kohtaa, in structured mode, an attendee requests a meeting, the other accepts, and the meeting gets a time and, on a grid event, a table. The organizer sees a slot grid with which slots are occupied and whether each booking is confirmed. On a private event, which is the default, the grid shows "Booked" or "Pending" and no names.

Meetings are requested by attendees. There is no matching algorithm and no relevance ranking: nobody is paired automatically. A person decides whom to ask, and the other decides whether to accept. A booked meeting is counted as held only when both people confirm afterwards that it took place.

Booked meetings work where time is scarce and the programme is built around meetings: investor days, pitching events with meeting blocks, a day where companies and buyers each need to cover a list of people.

Which format fits which event?

Choose by how the event is built, not by how many people are coming. If the day has meeting blocks and tables, use booked meetings. If people roam and talk, use open networking. The table below maps four common event types to a starting recommendation.

Two cautions. First, these are starting points from the kinds of events we have heard about, not rules. Second, nothing here depends on attendance figures: Kohtaa does not publish a recommended size for either mode, and the Medium plan covers up to 100 attendees for either format.

If you run investor days, the page on investor days goes through the structured flow end to end. For evenings, the page on startup events covers the open mode. And if attendees will not install anything either way, how to run a matchmaking event without an app download covers the practical side.

Can one event use both?

No. One event uses one meeting mode, and you choose it when you set the event up. The two modes are structured, with booked slots, and open, with "Get in touch" and "We met". If your day has both a booked meeting area and an unscheduled mingling evening, set up two events.

The reason is simple. The two modes lead to different screens for attendees and different numbers for the organizer. An attendee at an open event does not see a slot grid, and an attendee at a structured event is not asked to press "We met" in place of a confirmation. Mixing them would put two sets of instructions in front of the same person.

If your programme really has two parts, the clean approach is one event for each part, each with its own link and its own numbers. You can share both with the same group of people. Think about whether a single attendee needs to be in both before you split them: if they do, they will join both events with the same account, and their connections from both are recorded on their account.

Decide early. The mode is part of the set-up, and everything you tell attendees, from the registration email to the stage announcement, depends on it.

What does each format let you measure?

Each format has one headline number, and the numbers are not interchangeable. Open networking reports People connected. Booked meetings report People met face to face. Both are counts of attendees where both sides confirmed, and neither names a pair.

People connected (open mode): attendees who connected with at least one other attendee, where both pressed "We met", or one accepted the other's request to get in touch. A pair count sits beside it, labelled "Pairs with any contact", which includes requests that have not been accepted yet. Do not call that second number connections.

People met face to face (structured mode): attendees who had at least one booked meeting that both people confirmed took place, with the number of meetings held.

This matters when you report to sponsors or a funder. A sponsor reading "people connected" must not take it to mean that those people spoke at length or swapped contact details. And "people met face to face" does not include "We met" presses. If your funder expects a particular kind of number, pick the mode that produces it before you set the event up. How to measure networking at an event explains how to report both honestly.

When you are ready to choose, you can create your event, pick the format at set-up and share the link. If you are still deciding, the features page shows both modes side by side.