Businesses develop based on relationships. But, it’s time networking went beyond the mere exchange of business cards believe the founders of Bahrain Meet-Up group.

For M. Jamal Abu-Hulaigah and Nabeel Alshammari, the Bahrain Meet-Up group was more a product of necessity than anything else. Jamal, a Saudi entrepreneur, felt the need to build contacts when he relocated to Bahrain in 2009.

“I was exploring ways to interact with the business community here. I wanted to meet people but didn’t want to be industry-specific,” he says.

He joined Linkedin and was exploring groups there, when he noticed a suggestion ‘how about a networking meeting’?

The invitation was from Nabeel Alshammari.
The duo met soon after and decided to hold their first gathering on January 8, 2010.

Bahrain Meet-Up was born and with 56 people showing up, they knew they were on the right track.

“Business here depends on relationships. You’ll have to be a genius in your product and services to penetrate the market otherwise,” observes Nabeel, who works with Sun Microsystems Middle East.

Bahrain Meet-Up has had five meetings during the course of 2010, the last one in November.

Participants are mainly professionals and businessmen who feel the need to network, whether they’re looking for a job, a career switch or a business collaboration.

Guests are made to feel welcome from the moment they arrive, with volunteers walking them through the registration process. Attendees are given name tags to wear bearing only their first names without any details of organisation or designation. Every gathering is different from the previous one and revolves around a theme.

Group activities are planned to break the walls between people and no one is allowed to be alone.

“The idea is to have people meet on a personal level first. Ultimately, it’s all about business, but the rapport-building guarantees better results. We keep it deliberately informal so that everyone can rub shoulders with each other irrespective of where they stand on the corporate ladder,” says Jamal.

The founders try to energize the gathering by bringing in lively concepts that will not only help participants professionally but also assist in personality development. Subjects for discussion range from energy issues to Islamic banking, insurance and even laughter yoga.

Sponsorship is generally discouraged; instead a fee is imposed on attendees to cover up costs, which also ensures serious participation.

As the group turns one year old, it has 1,104 national and multinational members across many industries in Bahrain and the MENA region.

According to Jamal, investors from Spain, US, Turkey, Lebanon and the UAE have taken advantage of the gatherings, choosing to coordinate their visits to Bahrain with the group meeting.

“Our meetings are an ideal place for them to get a feel of Bahrain, since no one has a hidden agenda. We want the group to represent the true essence of business-friendly Bahrain; something akin to a guide for people wanting to do business here,” he says.

The duo are optimistic about the next year and expect membership to touch 5,000 by January 2012.

More sub-groups within the Bahrain Meet-Up are in the offing in 2011 which will include one on charity, another on poetry, a marathon group and a group following yoga. A book club meets regularly to discuss and dissect any chosen book.