Software engineers toil their entire careers to automate manual work, yet the thing they value most when venturing out into conferences or Developer conferences fits in their wallet and has no battery periods.
As tech workers go about their days building digital products, they’re rediscovering how physical IRL networking materials forge connections that Slack messages and LinkedIn requests just can’t. It’s not a rejection of technology. It’s more about realizing what works when you’re standing in a crowded convention center with 30 seconds to make an impression.
Why paper still wins in digital spaces
Business cards are a temporary solution to an immediate problem that arises at developer conferences: The exchange must be quick. When you’re between sessions or getting a coffee, taking out your phone to switch contact information creates friction. A card takes two seconds. You hand it to them, the conversation continues, and no one goes home without a productive chat.
Body language matters more than most developers realize when they get started. The Japan Neurological Society conducted a study of that issue and found people used their brains more when writing on paper or handling documents than they did with digital alternatives, in areas associated with visualizing and remembering information. That physical transaction creates a mental bookmark that a LinkedIn notification doesn’t.
These days, tech professionals are relying on the services of companies such as Helloprint when they need a business card that doesn’t get lost in a digital crowd. The math is pretty straightforward: Spending a few bucks per card can seem like a modest cost if it leads to just one new client or job opportunity that pays off with hundreds or thousands of dollars in business.
Implementing more than just basic contact cards
Developers are broadening the analog arsenal beyond the nod to old business cards. Stickers of GitHub profile/project logos have even been exchanged as ‘conference currency’. They’re relatively cheap to print in volume, easy to hand out and they wind up on the laptops that are sheriffed back and forth between offices and coworking spaces around the world.
Poster-sized one-pagers on specific projects are surprisingly effective for tech conversations. When you’re talking about a complex architecture or API, being able to hold up and mark on a visual reference is much better than splaying fingers in front of a webcam or trying to walk someone through concepts using words. His leave-behinds keep up the conversation after you’ve moved on.
The practical advantage of analog networking tools
This is not an old thing, It’s the developers using the same problem-solving thinking they do in code to networking problems.
The best networkers in the business don’t pick and choose between digital or physical approaches. They’re deploying both strategically, because each method does what it does best. Cards and printed things are the keys and digital tools keep them open.
Service companies such as Helloprint understand this and offers a turnaround that is in line with a fast conference environment where developers are planning their next career step.
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