Margaret McNab knows how to pack a room, but more importantly, she knows how to pack a room with opportunity.
As an ecosystem builder, connector of unlikely dots, and networking maestro, McNab has spent her career making introductions and initiatives that actually stick—for freelancers, founders, scientists, musicians, and coworking folks who want more from their spaces than just the hum of laptops and the occasional tepid coffee.
A room isn't electric without human energy. Networking events aren’t about broadcasting business cards or standing awkwardly in a corner—they’re about being present.
“It was great to have a buddy,” McNab shares, thinking of her own early days of navigating unfamiliar terrain. “It takes some of the awkwardness out of it. The number one rule of networking is you have just got to show up.”
For operators, making it easier for members to show up means lowering barriers. Whether it’s simple RSVP systems or making sure a friendly face greets people at the door, every bit helps. Don’t underestimate the value of a casual, “Welcome! What brings you here?”
McNab’s career has been a study in partnership. She points to her most successful open-house formats as proof: “It’s all about the community partners. Instead of just promoting to your own list, how many other lists can you get on, who is the right partner, who can help you reach the audience you really want?”
She’s a fan of mutually beneficial arrangements—find organizations with overlapping audiences and help each other do the heavy lifting of reaching new faces. If a bakery wants exposure, invite them in for a co-hosted event. If a design group needs a venue, offer your space. When partners handle promotion, hosts get reach without drowning in self-promotion.
Forget the cookie-cutter event toolkit. McNab’s flyers rarely shout “networking.” They invite curiosity. At her freelancer events, drink tickets were random trinkets—pom-poms, poker chips, googly eyes—anything odd enough to spark conversation.
“Standing with some stranger who also got up the guts to walk into this room, and you get to have this moment with them of like, What's this? What do we do?” she laughs.
Quirk breaks the ice in ways formal name badges never could. Give people an excuse to talk about the strange thing in their hand—it makes everyone a little more human and a lot less salesy.
McNab doesn’t wait for connections; she engineers them. Her tip: position events where chance encounters happen naturally.
“Let folks hang out by the food, hang out by the bar, hang out by the coffee. It’s amazing,” she says. Creating energy zones around snack tables or coffee carts works wonders. The goal is to design networking so nobody feels like it’s a test they’re sure to flunk.
McNab is passionate here. Name tags, she believes, can be a curiosity killer.
Why? Because they flatten complexity: titles, companies, “self-employed” can signal the wrong thing and wall off curiosity.
“Let people surprise you. If you’re a graphic designer, you never know if someone’s spouse happens to have a firm that's hiring, or maybe their neighbor does, or say they need a new logo. If you let yourself get distracted thinking you know who you're looking to meet, you might miss out on the other people in the room who would be good to know.
Her advice to hosts: only use name tags when context absolutely demands it (think investors’ soirees), but let your event be a portal into surprise elsewhere.
Let people tell their stories, not just their job titles.
A quick, thoughtful question goes further than a five-minute monologue. Bonus points for matchmaking: introducing folks with reasons to talk, no matter how tenuous. Good hosts pay attention, and when they bring together the room, members feel seen—and that’s what keeps them coming back.
“Keep that ABV low,” McNab jokes, relaying lessons learned from tech events and music industry days. Too much alcohol, too much food—not helpful.
Bigger budgets demand sponsors, more planning, and higher expectations; but the best events are simple. If a stack of chips and a six-pack get the job done, go with it.
“You don’t need food, or you can have light food. You're providing plenty of value already. It’s a slippery slope.”
For inclusivity, don’t default to happy hour. Coffee meetups welcome a different crowd. Morning events work for parents, and not everyone wants to drink. “If I want more people, if I want, you know, who I want to come—be really thoughtful about it,” she reminds us.
McNab’s most successful events made the attendee the hero, not the host and not the space. Freelancers were an overlooked audience, and bringing them together led to overflow crowds. “Maybe that's another strategy—look for successful groups and offer your space to them. Partner up; that'll make it easier to bring in new people.”
Letting guests run programs or honoring a particular discipline can shift the dynamic entirely. Hosts become facilitators, not headliners. The result: real opportunity, not just another sales push.
Effective events aren’t one size fits all. It’s important to offer a variety of options to suit a variety of people. For inclusivity, don’t default to happy hour. For example, coffee meetups welcome a different crowd. Morning events work for parents, and not everyone wants to drink.
“If I want more people, if I want, you know, who I want to come—be really thoughtful about it,” she reminds us.
McNab has a radar for language. The way a session or event is titled can dictate who walks through the door. She shares an example event that was aimed at women, but not exclusively. “Instead of ‘Behold, the women's panel,’ I gave it a name, like ‘moving up with mentorship,’ like, what's the benefit? And it was an awesome session—sixty people showed up, and twenty of them were men.”
Framing matters: inclusive language opens doors, closed language locks them. Events should make everyone feel like they belong, not just the usual suspects.
McNab’s last must-have? Photography. Not for the Instagram likes, but for the stories images tell.
“Once you start getting professional and nice photos...then you can do more visual storytelling about who's in the room. Show who is going to be at the next event.”
Sending out photos after an event makes the connections tangible, stitches together memory, and encourages continued conversation. It’s a way to keep the story alive—and make every attendee feel recognized.
“Networking and connecting people is what lights me up,” McNab says. Her work through McNab and Company is about ecosystem development—the art and science of making sure people meet who they need to, when they need to. Value comes first. The goal isn’t business cards. It’s bridges.
For coworking operators and community managers, McNab’s wisdom is simple yet profound: make every encounter a chance for surprise, delight, and possibility. Don’t overthink. Resist over-engineering. Build a scene that people are drawn to, where opportunity can show up in unexpected ways. Lean into quirks. Honor partnerships. Shine a spotlight on the quiet heroes. And above all, make space for others—even the ones who don’t know they need it yet.