What's the HICH? How to Handle Business Card Overflow at a Conference

July 12, 2005 3:55 AM

I’m about halfway through my favorite week of the year: the annual convention of the National Speakers Association. And as I sit here in the lobby of the Atlanta Hyatt, MAN are these business cards piling up!

But this is a good thing – a surefire sign that networking is in the air.

HOWEVER, how many times have you returned home from a 4 day convention, whipped out your stack of new business cards and said to yourself, who the hell are all these people?!

You certainly don’t want that to happen. So here’s how you can keep your “business card overflow” organized.

Keep several clear plastic holders in your convention binder. At the end of each day, collect all of the new cards and assign them to a sleeve. Then, put a post it note next to the card with several key points about your new contact, i.e., what he looks like and what the two of you discussed. (This will come in handy later when you transfer your information to your contact database.)

Then, use the HICH™ Technique. The HICH stands for, “How I Can Help”

Write down HICH on that post it note with some ideas for ways to give value to that person. For example, in the picture below, you see a note I made about “PB resources.” My new friend Mare has an upcoming speech, and I promised her several personal branding resources that would be perfect for her program.