The Best Networking Event Doesn’t Look Like Networking
What Oktoberfest can teach us about creating meaningful business connections
Every September, millions of people make their way to Munich for an event that, at first glance, has very little to do with business.
There are no name badges. No scheduled networking sessions. No conference rooms. No carefully planned coffee breaks with a five-minute window to “connect with fellow attendees”. And yet, conversations happen everywhere.
People who have never met before end up sharing a table. Strangers raise their glasses together. A conversation with the person sitting next to you can last for an entire afternoon. Business contacts can turn into friendships, and a casual encounter can sometimes become the beginning of a professional relationship.
Welcome to Oktoberfest.
While the world’s largest folk festival may not be the first place you would look for inspiration for corporate events, it might actually have a few lessons to teach us about networking.
1. Stop trying so hard to make people network
One of the biggest paradoxes of networking is that the more explicitly we tell people to network, the less natural it can feel. “Networking session” can immediately sound like an obligation. Ten minutes. Three questions. Exchange business cards. Move on.
Oktoberfest takes a completely different approach.
People are simply given a shared environment and a reason to be there. The conversations happen as a consequence. That is an important lesson for event planners: sometimes, the best networking opportunities are the ones that don't feel like networking at all. Instead of asking people to network, give them something to experience together.
2. Shared experiences are better conversation starters than small talk
“What do you do?” is probably one of the most overused questions at any business event. A shared experience gives people something much more interesting to talk about.
At Oktoberfest, it could be the music, the food, the atmosphere, the rides or simply the fact that you are sitting together in one of the famous beer tents. The experience itself becomes the conversation starter. For corporate events, this could mean replacing traditional networking formats with experiences that naturally encourage interaction: a hands-on activity, a shared challenge, a local cultural experience, a creative workshop or an unexpected setting.
When people have something to talk about, conversation becomes much easier.
3. The setting matters more than we think
Networking is not only about who is in the room. It is also about how the room makes people feel.
Oktoberfest is deliberately designed to create a sense of energy and togetherness. Long communal tables encourage interaction. Music creates a shared atmosphere. Food and drinks are part of the experience. The environment feels informal and social. Compare that with rows of chairs, a stage and a timetable full of presentations. Both can bring the same people together. But they create very different conditions for connection.
This is why event design is not just about aesthetics. The layout, atmosphere, pace and environment can actively influence how people interact.
4. Give people permission to be informal
Business relationships don't always have to begin with business.
One of the reasons Oktoberfest works so well as a social environment is that professional titles and hierarchies become less important. People are there to enjoy themselves. And that can change the way they communicate. The CEO, the new employee, the client and the supplier may all end up standing at the same table, singing the same song and raising the same glass.
Of course, not every corporate event needs lederhosen and a beer stein. But creating an environment where people can step outside their usual professional roles can be incredibly valuable.
5. Memorable beats efficient
Modern events are often optimised for efficiency.
How many meetings can we fit into one day?
How quickly can we move people from A to B?
How many contacts can participants make?
But meaningful relationships rarely follow a schedule.
Oktoberfest is a good reminder that time spent together is not necessarily time wasted. Sometimes the conversation that happens after dinner is more valuable than the formal session that came before it. Sometimes the unexpected encounter becomes the most memorable moment of the entire event.
The goal shouldn't always be to maximise interactions. It should be to create the conditions for meaningful interactions to happen.
So, what can event planners learn from Oktoberfest?
The lesson isn't that every corporate event should take place in a beer tent. It is much simpler than that.
People don't connect because you put “networking” on the agenda. They connect because you give them a reason to talk, something to experience together and an environment in which conversation feels natural.
And perhaps that is why some of the most successful networking moments happen when nobody is actually trying to network.
The best networking event doesn't look like networking.
It looks like people having a good time, discovering something together, sharing a story — and perhaps meeting someone they would never otherwise have met.
And that is something worth remembering when planning the next event.
The best events leave people with more than memories. They create connections.
Discover some of the experiences we have designed to bring people together.
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