Conferences and other business events offer the chance to make new professional contacts, but wading through the masses of attendees can be a nightmare. Marching around with a guest list does not make it much easier. Enter seven-month-old Qrious, a New York startup working on an app that lets smartphones sift through contacts people make in-person.
“Our goal is to help business people meet more of the folks they want to connect with,” says Qrious co-founder John Federico. The app is still in beta but has already been put to work at events hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum, Pace University, BarCamp NYC, and the Chicago Clean Energy Alliance.
The Qrious app is still in its embryonic stage of development, but here’s how it’s basically supposed to work. Users of Qrious create profiles activated through their LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter accounts that let them share contact information with other event attendees. Qrious users can search profiles at the events based on industry, area of expertise, or other criteria. Event planners can also print name badges, through Qrious, with quick response (QR) barcodes that provide contact details for the respective attendees. Qrious users can scan the barcodes with their smartphones to swap information, Federico says. Exhibitors at events can also use the Qrious codes at their booths for attendees to check-in to receive incentives.
Qrious is developing a feature to notify users when anyone with a profile that matches their search criteria enters the room they are in, Federico says. Future uses of the feature include breaking the ice between
