5. Pre-event social media contests

Metropolitan Events & Production created a pre-event networking campaign for the Makeup Shows in Chicago and Orlando last year. Organizers encouraged attendees to upload photos of themselves holding a sign that read "Meet Me at the Makeup Show" and their name, which could then be posted, with the event's hashtag, to Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. The idea was to create a sense of community and facilitate face recognition as people stepped onto the show floor. Organizers compiled the photos and shared them on the show's social networks. For the Orlando show in November, they added a contest, selecting one participant to win a gift bag.
Photo: Courtesy of the Makeup Show Chicago
8. Digital business cards

Add some fun and efficiency to the traditional exchange of information by giving your attendees a Poken. The device attaches to a lanyard or key chain and comes in dozens of conversation-starting designs such as a panda bear, a ninja, and a bumble bee (as well as a simple black-and-white model). The device uses near-field communication, so simply tapping two together exchanges the information stored on them, such as contact information, social network profiles, documents, videos, and Web sites. After the event, users plug the Poken into their computer's USB port to see all the people and information collected. It can also sync with mobile devices using the Poken app. Planners can create incentives for people to share their information by using the product's Game Pack.
Photo: Courtesy of Poken
10. Scavenger hunts

Mashable hosts a two-day conference each spring at Walt Disney World. The event, for about 300 senior-level executives from digital firms, brand leaders, senior-level marketers, and entrepreneurs, ends with a social-media-based scavenger hunt. In 2012, the networking activity took place at Epcot, where teams of five attendees worked to identify things in the park based on a set of clues and then posted photos of their findings on Instagram, tagged with #Mashcon.
Photo: Michael Cummings & Dream In Pictures

Participants are matched with a venue, which can vary from an office building to a public park. Some bring traditional, trade-show-style booths while others showcase their creativity: last year a musical act crocheted walls and a roof around a stage.
Photo: Courtesy of One Spark

The PTTOW Summit, held in May at Southern California’s Terranea Resort, encouraged conference attendees to sit with one another and answer some of life's big questions. A spinning wheel positioned adjacent to a seating group offered a series of topics—like "hate," "doubt," and "purpose"—to break the ice and make the exercise more interesting. The coffee table positioned at the seating group offered a workbook that participants could open to find questions or activities to do together, and the event also offered "conversation cookies,” fortune cookies filled with more conversation topics. JOWY Productions was behind the event’s production.
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for PTTOW