A Networking Conference with Its Own App: What Organizers Can Learn from DAKON 2026
At some events, networking is one item on the program among many. At DAKON, it is the reason everyone comes. For the 2026 edition, BNI therefore switched its networking provider and chose its own app from talque.
BNI is an international business network in which entrepreneurs refer business to one another. With DAKON, BNI brings its community from Germany and Austria together once a year, as one of the top addresses for professional networking in both countries. On June 12 and 13, 2026, around 1,500 networkers came to Mainz, with speakers including Mary Kennedy Thompson, CEO of BNI Global.
When networking is the core, the matchmaking has to fit
At a conference for entrepreneurs, networking decides whether the event succeeds. The matchmaking had to fit, meetings had to be easy to arrange and the meeting points on site had to be clearly organized.
On top of that came clear requirements from the organizers: participant data from their own participant management system had to be imported, groups had to be reachable with targeted push notifications, and all of it in an app with BNI's own look. At the same time, a very small team looked after the content largely on its own.
The goals:
- bring the right people together through matchmaking
- make 1:1 meetings easy to plan, with fixed meeting points on site
- reach participant groups with targeted push notifications
- offer an app in BNI's own look
- import participant data from the organizer's own system
The solution: three building blocks
A branded app. DAKON got its own app in BNI's look. The app and the web platform can be styled independently of each other.
Matchmaking that works on a smartphone. A few clearly worded questions instead of endless lists. The suggestions of who is worth talking to are based on them. Meetings are set to 15 minutes, and dedicated networking areas with fixed capacities were set up as meeting points on site.
Targeted communication. Participants were assigned to private groups, such as the roughly 700 guests at the evening event. This way, push notifications reached exactly the people they were meant for. Participant data was imported from the organizer's own system.
A community that really uses the app
1,560 people were registered for DAKON 2026. Together they exchanged 36,654 chats and scheduled 2,546 1:1 meetings. That works out at more than 23 chats and over one and a half meetings per registered person.
The program ran on the platform, too: 62 sessions with 26 speakers were available in the app.
What you can take away for your own networking event
A few good questions instead of long lists. Matchmaking works on a smartphone when the suggestions are based on a few clearly worded questions.
Meetings need a place. Short 15-minute slots and fixed networking areas with limited capacity turn an appointment into a real meeting.
The right message for the right group. Private groups make sure push notifications only reach the people they are meant for.
Small teams can network big. A platform that is easy to maintain and appears under your own brand takes the load off the organizing team.
The next DAKON will take place in Berlin. We are already looking forward to it.
Get all the details in our DAKON 2026 case study.
Planning an event where encounters take center stage? Let's talk.
