And for those who are more concerned with business relationships, one broker thinks finding the perfect fit may take only three minutes.
In the fast-paced Manhattan real estate market, Laurence Ross is taking out his stopwatch. In late June, the senior executive broker at Besen & Associates and co-founder of RE Speed Network held the fourth speed networking event for the Manhattan real estate industry.
Much like speed dating, speed networking allows industry professionals to develop multiple business relationships quickly.
Other such events exist in Manhattan, but Ross said he found them to be too broad-based.
“When you attend networking events, you only get to meet a small handful of people and sometimes you’re with the wrong person for too long,” Ross said.
“There were Web designers, resume writers and attorneys [at some events] — people who couldn’t help me at this point career-wise,” he added. “I thought this whole concept would be great if geared to people in my industry.”
The networking events aren’t Ross’ only entrepreneurial venture — he created the Web site PropertyRover.com, an Internet “spider” that collects property listings from different brokerages onto a single Web site.
At RE Speed Network events, a mix of 60 to 80 industry insiders have three minutes to exchange business cards and discuss possible partnerships before moving on to the next person.
Ross, along with co-founders David Kahane, Oren Klein and Ori Klein, maintain a controlled environment by filling in seats with a number of professionals from different areas of real estate, including brokers, investors and lenders.
Past events have been held at places including the Park Central Hotel in Midtown.
“It’s a unique system,” said Ross, adding that the networking is done with after-work drinks and at long tables that keep interactions informal and efficient.
RE Speed Network also plans to hold industry events outside of Manhattan. Among the locations are San Francisco, Philadelphia and possibly the outer boroughs of New York City, said Ross.
“People really love the concept of it, Ross said. “It’s a more efficient means of networking for the busy real estate professional.”
More information about the industry speed networking events is available at www.respeednetwork.com.