Carnegie Mellon Entrepreneurs Find New Ways to NetworkVirtually
For entrepreneurs, it’s incredibly important to build an expansive and growing network. Inevitably, this means making the most of every moment that arises to connect with others. Those at the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association (UEA) at Carnegie Mellon University are no exception. When not in class, members can be found exchanging ideas at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship during a casual meet & greet, or knee-deep in the Hack-a-Startup, a CMU pitch competition that brings together eager entrepreneurs to collaborate and innovate as one.
Or, at least, they could before the world shut down.
“Typically, we host many in-person events that allow undergraduate students to connect with others within CMU, the Pittsburgh Area, and our extensive alumni network of entrepreneurs.” says Samarth Gowda, President of the UEA and Class of ’22 at CMU. “But without in-person gatherings, it’s difficult to foster a personal speed-networking experience.”
Strapped for choices, Samarth did what any good entrepreneur would do — innovate. Gowda decided to use Glimpse, a video chatting platform that matches people in one on one, time-boxed conversations.
“We hosted a 45 minute, 3 minute per chat networking event for our members” says Gowda. “Throughout it all, Glimpse kept conversations natural and fast-paced. Board members, freshman, and sophomores — we all got to personally meet each other!”
Samarth, at last, believed he found a platform that translated the feeling of real-life ‘side conversations’ to his virtual community. Gowda says “On other video platforms, you’re just going to stare at someone else’s screen — not actually talk to them.” Glimpse is made appealing because “the one on one video-calling feature encourages members to engage meaningfully with one another.”
Gowda’s enthusiasm is echoed by all members of the UEA, particularly the freshmen, who felt truly integrated into the entrepreneurship community by the end of the networking event. On top of the one-on-one matchmaking, the members felt their experience on Glimpse was enhanced by the add-ons, from the icebreaker questions to the in-built photo booth.
As the UEA, along with thousands of other college organizations, prepare for yet another virtual semester, Samarth truly believes that “[Glimpse] has the potential to be the go-to platform for all events, from meetings to networking fairs” and will continue to use it for future events because “it translates the human experience to an online platform.”
