What does enabling connections mean?
Across all interviews in the Event Alpha series, a unanimous insight emerged:
enabling attendees to connect, network, and form relationships is a critical objective for events, no matter the size or format.
But that’s easier said than done.
Especially in the bustling world of Web3 events, where attendees bounce between overlapping side events and afterparties, it’s easy for events to become a blur of wristbands, branded lanyards, and rushed hellos with little substance.
What’s often overlooked is the intentional design by event organisers is what's required to help people feel comfortable enough to drop the small talk and build something more meaningful. Not everyone walks into a venue ready to vibe. Some need a nudge. Some need quiet. Some need a shared mission or a better table layout.
As someone who’s experienced both ends, from awkward first-timer to regular host, I’ve come to deeply appreciate events that make it easy to connect. No overwhelming noise. No elbow-to-elbow chaos. Just space, warmth, and thoughtful structure.
The best organizers don’t leave connections to chance. They design for them.
This post explores exactly how.
Here are six practical tactics used by experienced organizers to enable more authentic interactions and connections at their events.
Jye Sandiford
The venue is more than a backdrop, it shapes how people interact. Smaller, intimate spaces often facilitate better conversations and a sense of trust.
Kugusha’s Paris Meetup: Hosting a meetup in a cozy butchery shop turned bar provided a relaxed setting where attendees naturally opened up over wine and shared meals.
ApeFest’s Shift: As Chad from Yuga Labs noted, the event moved away from extravagant performances to more community-focused spaces, emphasizing attendee interactions.
How to Plan:
Prioritize venues with a warm, welcoming ambiance over large, impersonal spaces.
Consider settings like private dining rooms, art spaces, or coworking lounges for smaller groups.
Large crowds can inhibit genuine connections. Limiting attendance creates a more intimate environment where attendees feel seen and valued.
Nick’s View: Smaller, human-scale events help build trust in a globally dispersed and online-dominant industry.
How to Plan:
Cap RSVPs based on venue size and intended interaction level.
Use invitation-based or curated lists to ensure the right mix of attendees.
Engagement-focused activities can break down barriers and prompt deeper conversations.
Jay’s Eco Dinner Experience: Icebreaker games during intimate dinners helped attendees feel comfortable, leading to more meaningful exchanges. High-quality food and drink elevated the experience and created lasting impressions.
How to Plan:
Incorporate activities like shared meals, intro games, or collaborative workshops.
Use seating arrangements or facilitated discussions to mix groups and encourage new connections.
Creating specific physical spaces where attendees can relax and feel safe fosters authentic interactions.
Snax’s Pizza Gatherings: Informal settings built around universally loved food like pizza created low-pressure environments for attendees to connect.
Katie’s Community Events: Comfortable spaces designed for conversation, not just presentations, improved attendee engagement.
How to Plan:
Include breakout areas for informal chats and private discussions.
Design spaces for different types of interactions. Quiet zones for reflection and open areas for networking.
Personal invites warm up attendees before they even arrive.
Louie's take: "If you want the right people to show up and connect, you need to invite them personally."
How to Plan:
Directly reach out to individuals who would benefit from or contribute to your event’s purpose.
Share why you want them there and what you think they’ll get out of it.
Some guests need support to feel welcome, especially first-timers.
Nixo's view: Mixed experienced and new attendees on purpose, assigning hosts and designing structured ways to get people talking.
How to Plan:
Assign soft hosts to welcome people and make introductions.
Offer Q&A circles, workshop support, or casual panels to help new voices get heard.
These tactics are more than just boxes to check. When executed with care, they change how people experience your event.
In the following stories, you’ll see exactly how this looks in action—from curated dinners to community-first gatherings.
The Challenge
As a relatively new player in the Web3 space, Eco needed a way to foster trust and build deep connections with influential people at DevCon 2024 from developers, investors, and community leaders who could help amplify its mission.
But with conference weeks saturated by over-programmed side events and loud brand activations, a splashy party or crowded panel just wouldn’t cut it. Jay, Eco’s CMO, knew that if they were going to stand out and be remembered they needed to go small, go intentional, and go deep.
The Experience
Jay designed a high-touch, intimate dinner that was as strategic as it was warm. Every detail worked to create a space that encouraged openness, built trust, and left a lasting impression:
A venue that sparked curiosity: A vintage train car with a second-floor dining room created an unusual, cozy space that broke the ice before guests even sat down. It was nostalgic, intimate, and worlds away from the typical rooftop or hotel lounge.
The right mix of people: The guest list was tightly curated, a blend of aligned developers, investors, and creative thinkers who could engage with Eco’s vision. There was no RSVP blast; every seat was intentional.
Social design that avoided silos: Icebreaker games kicked off the night and helped guests feel at ease. Seating was arranged to avoid cliques and encourage new collisions — a deliberate push to ensure no one stayed in their own corner.
Thoughtful sensory details: The menu was regionally inspired and high quality — not just a meal, but a message. “Winning hearts through the stomach,” Jay said, was more than a joke. It was part of the brand strategy.
Guests also received custom keepsakes from a local elephant sanctuary, a simple gesture that made the night feel grounded in place and community, not just another “Web3 brand on a t-shirt.”
Lasting Impact
The result? Guests didn’t just enjoy the dinner — they remembered it. They followed up. They amplified Eco’s mission. Some became long-term collaborators.
Instead of trying to shout over the noise of conference week, Eco had created something quiet, deliberate, and unforgettable — and that made it powerful.
Key Insight
In a saturated attention economy, depth wins. A thoughtfully crafted, small-scale event can outperform a high-budget blowout if it makes people feel something — connected, curious, and part of something meaningful.
The Challenge
EthStaker’s events have always served a dual purpose: build stronger bonds within the staking community, and welcome newcomers into the fold. But as the Ethereum ecosystem matured and more people became curious about staking, maintaining this balance became trickier.
The risk was clear: overcrowded events could make newcomers feel lost or intimidated, while also undermining the personal, human-scale interactions that had defined EthStaker from the beginning. Without a carefully designed structure, even well-intentioned community events could easily slip into chaos—or cliques.
The Solution: Curated Invites, Right-Sized Events, and Intentional Design
To protect the EthStaker ethos while continuing to grow, Nixo focused on three levers: capacity, curation, and communication.
Guest List Curation:
Rather than opening RSVPs to the public from day one, early invites were sent to a thoughtful mix of experienced stakers and newcomers—particularly those who had been active in Discords or supported others online. This ensured a welcoming peer group for new attendees and reinforced a culture of generosity and learning.
Capacity Limits:
Most meetups were capped at 30–50 people. For larger gatherings (up to 150), EthStaker introduced breakout sessions to preserve small group intimacy. This scaling tactic allowed for diversity in attendance without compromising depth of conversation.
Personal Touches:
Each invitation included a personalized message explaining why the attendee was being invited and what they could bring to—or gain from—the event. These small gestures helped guests feel valued before they even walked through the door.
Newcomer-Friendly Structures:
Within the events, EthStaker created clearly defined zones and sessions for those new to staking: casual Q&A circles, mentor-led discussions, and beginner workshops. This allowed people to ask questions without fear of “looking dumb,” and it helped surface new voices in the community.
Timed Promotion Strategy:
To maintain balance, public promotion was rolled out in waves. Initial announcements (3–4 weeks out) targeted the core community, with a final push 1–2 weeks before the event to welcome new stakers into dedicated newcomer spaces. This phased approach ensured that both veteran and new attendees had room to show up fully.
EthStaker’s approach didn’t just maintain the magic of its early events—it scaled it.
More trust, fewer silos: Intentionally mixed guest lists helped blur the lines between experts and beginners, breaking down social hierarchies and encouraging support over status.
A stronger, more diverse core: Veteran stakers reported deeper connection to the mission, while newcomers found a rare entry point into staking that felt safe and inclusive.
Reputation as one of the most beginner-friendly communities in Ethereum: Word of mouth and thoughtful follow-up turned these events into magnets for curious participants and committed builders alike.
Key Insight:
As Web3 communities grow, intimacy doesn't have to shrink. With thoughtful curation and intentional pacing, you can scale support and inclusion at the same time.
The Challenge
In the digital-first world of Web3, relationships often begin (and end) behind screens. But Kugusha saw things differently.
She believed that genuine community is built IRL—through trust, shared moments, and physical presence. The challenge was how to create that sense of comfort and openness in event spaces, especially when the norm leaned toward crowded rooftops, chaotic schedules, and shouty brand activations.
In her words:
“Real-life interactions hold far greater value than those made online.” The goal was to design events that proved it.
The Solution: Intimacy Through Setting, Senses, and Soft Touches
Kugusha’s most successful example came during a Farcaster meetup in Paris. Instead of booking a trendy bar or co-working loft, she chose a working butcher shop. On evenings and weekends, the space transformed into a cozy hideaway—intimate, dimly lit, filled with the aroma of grilled meat and the clink of wine glasses.
It wasn’t flashy, but that was the point. It invited people to slow down, settle in, and genuinely connect.
Why it worked:
Unexpected Familiarity: The butcher shop broke expectations. Guests weren’t walking into another generic venue—they were stepping into a communal, sensory-rich space that immediately softened the mood.
Curated Size & Energy: Attendance was capped at a small group, allowing everyone to feel seen and heard. No one got lost in the noise.
Environmental Details: Lighting, sound, seating—it was all tuned for warmth and flow. Conversations felt organic because the space gave them room to breathe.
Low-Stakes Icebreakers: Kugusha incorporated group conversation starters and casual, shared experiences (e.g. slicing meat together, exchanging stories over wine). These weren’t “networking activities,” they were human moments disguised as fun.
The Impact + Insight
The butcher shop dinner did more than fill a room—it built real bonds.
Connections That Lasted: Attendees reported collaborations and friendships forming after the event, many of which wouldn’t have emerged in louder or more transactional settings.
Elevated the Brand Through Experience: Without any formal brand banners or activations, the event deepened trust in the Farcaster community—proving that people remember how a space made them feel more than what was said on stage.
A New Playbook Emerged: Since then, Kugusha has replicated this approach across multiple events: unusual venues, capped attendance, and thoughtful curation over spectacle.
Key Insight:
You don’t need an extravagant budget to create emotional resonance. By thoughtfully curating the space, the flow, and the senses, even a humble butcher shop can become a launchpad for long-term connection.
Enabling genuine connections at Web3 events is about more than creating opportunities to meet—it’s about designing thoughtful experiences that facilitate trust, openness, and meaningful engagement.
By focusing on intimate venues, curated activities, and attendee-centric planning, organizers can build environments where authentic interactions thrive. These strategies transform events into powerful tools for community bonding and long-term success.
Up Next: Measuring What Matters — From Vibes to Value
How teams are defining success, unlocking budget, and showing impact (without killing the spirit). We’ll explore how the best organizers are moving beyond vanity metrics to capture real ROI from their events.
Coming early next week.
<100 subscribers
Support dialog
6