- Go to events on cross-industry innovation. You are bound to meet people there who share your interest in this topic.
- Be sure to come prepared. Before going to such an event, you need to get your questions straight: what do you want to know, who do you want to talk to, why do you want to talk to him/her? This method will help you network more efficiently. Example: you work in textiles and your challenge is to create a new wearable. Then you may want to have a chat with person X who is active in the sports industry to see what you can come up with together.
Cross
Industry
Innovation
Industry
Innovation
Connect
Tips & tricks
Tools
- YourOwnLab
Connect to new people from various industries who feel the same way about cross-industry innovation with the help of YourOwnLab. In other words: this tool can guide you to interesting partnerships.
- Social media search
Facebook: rely on the ‘snowball effect’ to find new people. This means getting referred to new contacts by people you already know.
Twitter: follow people who are working on innovation to receive Tweets relating to your interests and activities. Before you know it, you'll have built an entire network.
LinkedIn Advanced: when you need specific profiles, you can use LinkedIn Advanced to reach the right persons or organizations. - Selection criteria
When putting your cross-industry team together, you should keep the following criteria in mind:- Valuable (complementary) input
- Interest
- Open-mindedness
- Power
- Co-working spaces
Working in the same space is a fun way to get to know new people and organizations. Check out the Bar d'Office network or Coworking Belgium.