MANSFIELD — Networking events can often feel inaccessible. Chris Borja never wanted to interrupt group conversations when trying to expand his network and he felt people who attended events were in a race to trade business cards.
Borja founded the CONNECTED Networking Group to focus on building personal relationships in addition to professional contacts. CONNECTED started in Dublin, Ohio but has since expanded across the state.
On Tuesday night, Braintree hosted Mansfield’s first CONNECTED event with more than 30 attendees. Jeff Schultheis met Borja at a Columbus networking event and knew he wanted to bring CONNECTED to Mansfield.
“The event was so different and really beneficial so I thought, ‘Wow, this is pretty cool,’” Schultheis said. “Why not Mansfield? … We have an area that always gets overlooked and it shouldn’t.”
Schultheis led CONNECTED attendees in a partner exercise in which everyone found someone they didn’t know and spent seven minutes in conversation without mentioning their jobs. Then, they spent four minutes talking about their professional work and repeated the activity with someone else.
The timers were by design, Schultheis said. CONNECTED aims to “network with authenticity” and build friendships and collaboration people will want to return to.
Devon Reinhart, a student at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, said he attends a few networking events each month to meet people.
He noticed people at the first CONNECTED Mansfield event were younger on average than other networking events he’s attended.
“I can just connect better with younger people,” Reinhart said. “No matter what, I still talk to everybody.”
Though the event was scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m., the activities Schultheis and Borja led lasted just over an hour. However, most of the attendees stayed to talk with the new friends they had made.
“Jeff already pretty much wrapped up, but everyone’s still staying because they enjoy it,” Borja said. “People are still wanting to talk because they’re so into their conversations.”
Borja said he created CONNECTED partner exercises to make introverts more comfortable than they likely are speaking in front of groups.
“We want people to feel like they belong to something if they don’t already,” he said. “My goal and mission is accomplished because I’ve already heard people connecting and finding common ground.”
As CONNECTED grows in Mansfield, Borja said it will be its own inclusive group but can also serve as a stepping stone to more specialized groups people want to join, particularly if members of other networking and advancement groups attend CONNECTED events.
Borja said his role is showing Schultheis the ropes of how to lead CONNECTED events, but he will still attend as many Mansfield dates as he can.
Schultheis said he is proud of how the first CONNECTED Mansfield event ended and he hopes September’s attendees will return.
“The interactions of everybody were very enthusiastic,” Schultheis said. “I couldn’t get them to stop talking, and that’s good. We wanted a place where, once you start meeting people, you learn a little bit more about them and you want to learn more.”
Schultheis said he’s looking forward to future CONNECTED Mansfield events. He said he wants CONNECTED Mansfield to draw a diverse crowd including people in all stages of entrepreneurship and employment.
“If you’re afraid to come, don’t worry — we’ll help you,” he said. “This is a welcoming environment, People want to hear from you, this is a place where your voice will get heard.”
CONNECTED Mansfield will continue to host events on the second Tuesday of each month. The next is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 11 on the second floor of Braintree.
