The first goal of any great networking event is ensuring your attendees have the opportunity to make profitable business relationships. The second? Making sure your attendees are well-fed without interfering with making those relationships. That’s why coming up with networking food event ideas can be so hard. 

So if you’re struggling with what to serve your attendees so they are full and happy, we have a few ideas:

Match the food to the activity

The easiest place to start is by looking at what kinds of activities your attendees will be partaking in. Are they constantly moving around? Keep it light and healthy. Are you going to unlock their inner child? Then build it around nostalgic food.

Take, for example, The Rook OTR, a local board game parlor. The goal is to match customers with the perfect board game to have a fun night, and the menu is used to enhance that experience. The nostalgic food includes items like pizza rolls and fried chicken. These are the food that defined the youth of their target demographic, as did many of the board games. Just as the board games bring up beloved memories, so does the food. That makes for a lot to talk and bond over. 

Make the food the activity

There is something very personal about food. Each attendee has their own preferences and restrictions, which can complicate coming up with networking event food ideas even further. But you can turn this into a strength.

Come up with food tasting stations where each attendee can personalize their food to their own taste. You can make this as complicated as mini cooking lessons or as simple as picking out your own toppings for something like cupcakes. Getting hands on with the food is a great way to relax your attendees and get them talking with each other. And it makes sure that everyone gets exactly what they want.

What it really all comes down though is knowing your attendees and taking into account what they are doing at your event. Food that takes that into account will almost always keep everyone happy.

What is your best tip for coming up with networking event food ideas? 

Image via The Rook OTR Facebook page