“Have them at « Hello »”
Meet
Charlie, the one that will help you “rock your next meeting.”
Try
to picture the scene: a meeting is scheduled on your agenda, but you have never
meet the person, and you might ask yourself what to say ; something quite common
you would say, but how do you break the ice? Finding commonalities would be a
good start, but how to do such researches? You do not have time to spend on
Internet digging up information. Charlie knows that.
Charlie is a prototype app that helps making
meetings easier. The concept is quite simple. Charlie scans your calendar
searching for approaching meetings scheduled and once it has the names of your
contact, it look into numerous online resources relevant information about the
person you are about to meet. The aim is to better know the person, but most
importantly, to find out if you and that person have something in common.
Charlie doesn’t even stop there. It will let you know if there is any current
news about that commonality. For instance, let’s say that you two are supporters
of the same football team; Charlie, will first let you know that, and then tell
you the latest news concerning your favorite team. What better way to break the
ice and start the meeting than a victory of your common team?
In
addition of personal details, Charlie will also look at where the person works,
and will inform you about any news concerning its company and industry. You can
now walk into the room as the most prepared person and “rock your meeting”.
Such
applications are of great use for anyone that wants to avoid uncomfortable and awkward
situation during a first meeting. Charlie app can be really helpful during
conferences. Indeed, networking is an essential part for any events, and often,
represents a main objective for many participants. Various apps already exists
to help attendees to find interesting contacts that could be relevant for their
career, and even help them to find those physically in the conference center.
However, all the efforts are still on their own: finding relevant sources on
Internet concerning, checking social networks… to find information and details
about the person they are going to meet. The advantage of “Charlie” is that it
saves its user a lot of time and already filters the information that would be
of interest for him. It therefore enhances and facilitates networking during business
events. Such apps can be particularly of interest for the youngest generation
that it is says are less comfortable with face to face networking rather than
online. Making meetings easier might encourage them to attend the conference
and be part of all aspect of the event.
However,
it can have negative aspects and effects. Indeed, it can be used in order to
know what the other likes or dislikes and pretend to have this in common, such
like during a date. With the progress of technology nowadays, there is always a
risk that new tools, technologies, applications… would be diverted from their
original functions. But, taken cautiously, apps such as Charlie can really be useful
and will certainly know a great success.
Thumbnail image courtesy
iStock, Lightbox;
screenshot courtesy Charlie
Keyword:
meeting, commonality, networking, app, contact details
Written
by Audrey Moreno & Iuliia Nadtochii
