Networking events are seen as an essential activity for the establishment and maintenance of professional connections. Despite their ubiquity and perceived importance, networking events are often ineffective and unenjoyable. Suggestions for the improvement of networking outcomes typically focus on event selection or participant capabilities. In this article, we posit that greater success can be achieved by improving the design of networking events themselves. We adopt a research-through-design (RTD) approach to derive the design features that explain the success of Wok+Wine, a networking event that consistently delivers positive functional and experiential outcomes across a range of cultural and organizational contexts. From a synthesis of these design features, we derive six generalizable design principles that can support managers in the creation of better networking events as well as in the analysis and selection of existing ones.

社交活动被视为建立和维护专业联系的重要活动。尽管网络活动无处不在并且被认为很重要，但社交活动通常是无效的和令人不愉快的。改善网络成果的建议通常侧重于活动选择或参与者能力。在本文中，我们认为可以通过改进网络活动本身的设计来取得更大的成功。我们采用从研究到设计 (RTD) 的方法来推导出解释 Wok+Wine 成功的设计特征，这是一个在一系列文化和组织环境中始终如一地提供积极的功能和体验成果的社交活动。综合这些设计特点，