LA Clippers Linkedin Meetup: Taking Connections Offline

5 min Read | Career Development

There has been an undeniable resurgence of engagement in the Linkedin community.

Spearheaded by members of every generation, cities globally have started hosting events to bring the online in-person.

A couple weeks ago, a new level of Linkedin meetup was reached thanks to the LA Clippers and a couple key members of the community. There have been a lot of the classic “go and pass around your business cards” types of events, but never before had the community teamed up with a major sports team to host a networking event + sports game.

Atop the iconic Staples Center in LA Live, young professionals in the LA sports community gathered to hear from Manu Goswami (Trufan), Eliot Robinson (Dunk) and Patrick Walcek (LA Clippers) and myself as we shared our insights on how you should position yourself on LinkedIn to break into competitive roles. 

Joining us in the crowd, we also had special guests such as Linkedin Top Voice, Natalie Riso, and Linkedin Campus Editors, Casey Rosen, Annette Hudson Nguyen and Leann Abad.

While the event covered everything from Linkedin messaging to how to stand out with your personal brand, one message remained consistent throughout: you need to take your connections offline.

From Crowd to Relationship

From my perspective, seeing this event take shape and having people from different cities and backgrounds fly or drive out to make an appearance was inspiring to see. From Detroit, New York, Orange County and Vancouver, creating an event to connect Linkedin enthusiasts, young professionals and advocates of the community alike was a dream come true.

With so many people communicating and connecting online today, there’s something so refreshing about bringing a group together to dig into deeper ideas in person. Not that there isn’t a need for connecting online today, but moreover, we need to understand that connecting online is just the start. Our end goal needs to be developing relationships offline and coming together for the LA Clippers Linkedin event encompasses that goal so well.

Tiffany Parra messaged us after the event saying, "As I stood on the top floor of the Staples Center and observed a sea of smiling young professionals, it hit me:

This is what community is all about.

Events like the LA Clippers x LinkedIn Meetup help to bridge the gap between online interaction and long-lasting relationships. After attending the event, I firmly believe unique networking events like this one will be the future of relationship building."

Social media influencer and founder of Dunk, Eliot Robinson, later said: "I basically live & breathe basketball. It’s what I speak with my friends about. It’s what my business is built around. So when I say that it was an honour to speak on top of the Staples Center, with very likeminded individuals, to an incredibly receptive and positive crowd, I’m making an understatement."

Aftermath of the Event

Linkedin Youth Editor and CEO of Trufan, Manu Goswami, worded it this way:

“It was so great to see the amount of students that came out to the meetup. I’ve been doing these all over the world and to have the support of a major organization like the Clippers is refreshing to see. I hope more companies and teams follow the example the Clippers are putting out: building community can happen off the court!”

Another Linkedin Campus Editor and incoming Google/YouTube Marketing Intern, Annette Hudson Nguyen said, “As a Linkedin Campus Editor, having the opportunity to meet other people I’ve chatted with and collaborated with on projects was an incredible experience."

"Face-to-face relationships can never quite be replaced and it was so cool seeing like-minded people come together and bounce ideas off of each other so rapidly and intensely. You can only do so much online through messages or video chats, but at the end of the day, this is something that can’t be imitated through virtual means.”

Nate Kara, a graduating Communications student flew out from Vancouver knowning this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. “Being a huge basketball fan I knew this was something I couldn’t pass up. I was so impressed with the Clippers organization and was excited they were willing to host a space where like-minded young professionals could network and gain value from one another.”

Ben Tack, who spearheaded the hosting of the event from the LA Clippers side did a phenomenal job at MC’ing the night. His key takeaways from the conversations were understanding the importance of prioritizing authenticity and consistency in social media.

There are many different ways to utilize social media, and all of them can be successful, as long as you are willing to be authentic and leave room for discussion.

Next Steps

The Linkedin Clippers Meetup was one of the most elite Meetups I’ve been to. From the venue location on the top floor of the Staples Centre, to the opportunity to get to socialize afterwards at the NBA game and chat about our takeaways, it will undoubtedly be a night to remember.

I’m excited to see what this idea might inspire in other cities. You never know what can come from a simple idea and a community that wants to get behind it to inspire change.

A special thanks to the LA Clippers for hosting this event and the Linkedin Campus Editors for helping this idea come to life.

I’m already counting down the days until the next one.

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#StudentVoices #LookingForward

Joel is a recent business management grad, Linkedin Campus Editor and Co-Director of Western Canada's largest marketing conference (CIMC). He has worked on Parliament Hill, as a Fundraiser Director and Marketing Consultant the last couple years. He has written on topics around personal development, culture and often shares his thoughts on #studentvoices.

To hear more from Joel, follow him on Twitter or Linkedin.