Business After Hours: the monthly mixer
A come-and-go evening at a member business, same slot every month. The chamber staple that still works.
Business After Hours is a monthly come-and-go networking event hosted by a different member business each time, usually from about 5 to 6:30 pm. The host provides the space and light food. The chamber or EDC handles invitations and photos, and uses the evening to book follow-up business visits.
What is a Business After Hours mixer?
A rotating host business opens its doors from about 5 to 6:30 pm, puts out food, and the business community shows up to see the place and each other. The Odessa Chamber describes it as a casual come-and-go event and reports 80 to 100 attendees at each one. Kerrville's chamber runs them from 5:15 to 6:30 at member locations all year. McAllen's chamber runs a small-business version.
For the host it is foot traffic and a showcase. For you it is twenty conversations in ninety minutes, including with owners who would never book a visit.
Why does it work?
- Cheap and repeatable. The host pays for most of it.
- Owners talk more over a plate than across a desk.
- It fills your visit calendar: every mixer should produce a few follow-up visits.
How do you start a Business After Hours mixer?
- Fix the slot. Same week, same time, every month.
- Line up twelve hosts a year. New businesses and expansions first.
- The host provides space and light food. You do the invites, the photos and the thank-you.
- Work the room with a goal: five new conversations, two follow-up visits booked.
- Post the photos the next morning and tag the host.
Texas examples
- Odessa Chamber of Commerce, Business After Hours
- Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce, Business After-Hours Mixers
- McAllen Chamber of Commerce, Small Business After Hours Mixer
What to watch out for
- The same thirty people every month. Rotate neighborhoods and industries so the room changes.
Pair it with: ribbon cuttings and recognition. A mixer at a business celebrating an anniversary does two jobs at once.
Questions directors ask
How many people come to a Business After Hours?
It depends on the town. The Odessa Chamber of Commerce reports 80 to 100 attendees at each of its events.
What does the host business get?
Foot traffic, a showcase of its space, and the photos. Hosting is a reason for a business to say yes to the chamber.
How does a mixer help retention?
Staff get twenty conversations in ninety minutes with owners who would never book a formal visit, and every mixer should produce a few follow-up visits.