Networking in a Down Market

April 7, 2008

A couple months ago, I had the pleasure of attending the American Securitization Forum’s annual conference in Las Vegas, one of the asset-backed securities market’s premier events. As one would expect given the subprime mortgage mess, the mood of conference-goers ranged from cautiously optimistic to downright desperate. For a guy who sells marketing solutions, the event was not the goldmine I had hoped for.

But the good news was, virtually everyone I encountered was willing to spend time with me. Of course, part of that may have been the stiff drinks loosening people up, but the more important reason was the fact that the difficulties in that market naturally made people feel more compelled to establish relationships.

Down markets make fast friends.

This week many of you will be attending ACG InterGrowth, the best conference of its kind in the middle market. Clearly, the mid-market has not been hammered as harshly as other segments of the capital markets, and deals are still happening But with equity-to-debt ratios rising and financing harder to come by, the sense of euphoria we saw last year at this time probably won’t be as prevalent this time around (save for moments like the M&A Magazine awards ceremony with John Kruk and Karl Ravech on the morning of Thursday, April 10, of course).

But a more challenging market hasn’t hurt attendance, and in fact may be doing just the opposite. Last time I spoke to Mark Jones, chairman of the conference, attendance was north of 1,800 and included a number of people from outside the U.S, which is important given the growth of cross-border M&A in places like Europe, Canada and China. Presumably, those folks are making the trip with the main objective of finding their next deal, partnership or investor.

That helps to explain the popularity of the InterGrowth Connect tool, which was chock full of users every time I logged in, including yesterday afternoon. According to ACG, over 600 appointments have been made using the program, which is remarkable. (Visually, my favorite part is going to the People Map, where I can quickly see who’s in the network and what type of firm they represent. It actually reminds me of the Mii section of the Nintendo Wii system, just without the faces.)

Making real, meaningful connections is never easy, but few would deny that networking is paramount in any type of market. And at this year’s InterGrowth, it may actually be a bit easier to do. See you at the conference!