OVERVIEW

Networking is hard. We made it easier to stay connected.

BluePrint is UBC BizTech's flagship conference designed to empower students with the tools and connections they need to thrive in the tech industry. Its UBC's largest technology conference, boasting 270+ attendees, 80+ partners, and attracting 40+ companies from the likes of Google, Tesla, and Meta annually. This year's theme revolved around Getting Your Start and helping students initiate their first step into tech.

The biggest pain point with tech events? Networking. Lining up for 30 minutes to speak with someone you don't know just for the chance at an opportunity, fumbling with your phone and trying to find someone's LinkedIn to connect, and then having to remember everyone after the fact makes these events exhausting.

Partner Q&A panel at BluePrint 2025

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

We did some research into how people really feel about networking.

In a survey done with 100 previous attendees, we discovered that the issue is not just forming these connections, but also maintaining them long after the event is over. On top of this, students felt as though it was difficult to navigate the overwhelming atmosphere of these events while having these conversations.

Its clear that conference attendees are coming to BluePrint to make meaningful connections, but have trouble remembering who they have talked to and where to find them, making it difficult to quantify the value they received by attending.

How might we foster the connections between attendees and delegates made at BluePrint and highlight the value that each attendee gained by attending?

SOLUTION

We made everything accessible through the tap of a card.

We knew that our solution needed an X-factor that got people talking without compromising on user experience. NFC technology presented an opportunity to do all three of those. Each attendees nametag came with an NFC card inside, and by holding your mobile device up to someone's nametag you instantly gained access to a custom profile which had their LinkedIn, company, and fun facts about them. We ingested event signup data into a backend service that generated these profiles automatically. Each NFC card was then mapped to a custom profile URL for each attendee.

We remember who you meet so you can focus on the present.

We developed a system that persists connections between two people, which we defined as everyone who visits your profile and everyone whose profile you have visited. This way, anyone could get a long list of everyone they met at the event. After the event had ended, we launched a recap similar to Spotify Wrapped, where you could look back on what you accomplished and check out what everyone else got up to.

AFTERMATH

Our club was awarded multiple awards by our student body for our innovation.

BluePrint 2025 was a resounding success and was awarded Conference of the Year by the UBC Sauder Commerce Undergraduate Society. The NFC technology proved to be a hit, with attendees raving about how easy it was to connect with others and how they could easily remember who they had talked to. In total, the app facilitated 4700 unique connections among a group of 270 attendees.

NEXT STEPS

What if we extended beyond the scope of a single event?

Coming off the resounding success of the BluePrint NFC cards, BizTech decided to start a new initiative - Membership Cards. Any individual who signs up as a member receives a membership card that keeps track of connections throughout every single BizTech event and also allows them to checkin at the door.

User profiles accessible through NFC membership cards.

Modelling connections at MIS Night 2025 as edges in a graph data structure

Our NFC membership cards are available for all BizTech members today. If you're in the area, come check out our events and get your hands on some!