We were proud to take the stage last week at TechChill, where Christina Pilz joined social anthropologist Mārtiņš Daugulis to explore why networking as we know it is failing us.

𝐈𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲. But they haven’t. Networking increases contacts, but not necessarily connection.

The issue isn’t a lack of tools. It’s how we design the experience.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. It happens when they do something together: Solve a challenge. Build something. Share an experience that requires contribution. That’s when something shifts. People stop performing. They start engaging. And that’s where real connection begins.

Insights from the 27Names European Experience Index™ (EEX) reflect the same tension: while the industry optimizes for scale and efficiency, 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧: 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Technology can support that. But it can’t replace it.

And that’s where we need to rethink things. Not how we connect 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, but how we connect 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓.