By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

To follow up after virtual networking event calls, save the chat and the names before the host ends the call, then send a short note within 48 hours that quotes something the person said. The chat log is your context. Without it, a virtual contact is just a name on a screen you will never see again.

The call ends at 1:00. The host thanks everyone, clicks End Meeting for All, and the grid of 40 faces disappears. You had a good breakout with a lender and a searcher who is close to an LOI. You remember the lender’s first name. You think the searcher was in Denver.

That is the whole problem with virtual rooms. There is no badge to scan, no card in your pocket, no dinner after. When the window closes, the room is gone.

Why is following up after a virtual event harder than after a conference?

Because the context disappears the moment the call ends. At an in person event you leave with a stack of cards and a memory of a face in a place. On Zoom you leave with nothing unless you saved it while the call was live.

The upside is that a virtual event leaves a written record an in person room never does: the chat. People post their names, their emails, what they are working on and what they need. That record is the best follow up context you will ever get, and most people let it vanish.

If you want the in person version of this system, read the conference follow up system.

What should you save before the Zoom call ends?

Save the chat, the names from your breakouts, and one sentence per person, all before the host closes the meeting. Here is the checklist I would run in the last five minutes.

1. Save the chat. In Zoom, open Chat, click the three dots, and choose Save Chat. Per Zoom’s help page on saving in meeting chat, this only works if the host allows it, and a local save includes “any chats that you can see,” both messages to everyone and messages sent directly to you. Zoom stores it by default in Documents, Zoom, in a folder named for the meeting.
2. Write down your breakout names. Breakouts are where real conversations happen, and they are not in the main chat. First and last name, firm, and the one thing they said.
3. Screenshot anyone who posted contact details. Fast and ugly beats lost.
4. Note who asked the best question. The person who asked the speaker something sharp is often the person worth knowing.
5. Ask the host for the attendee list in the chat, politely. Ask now while they are still on screen and happy the event went well.

Can you get the attendee list from a Zoom meeting?

The host can, you usually cannot. Zoom’s help page on participant lists says hosts generate an Attendee Report from Reports, Usage Reports, Meeting and webinar history, and the registration report includes first and last name and email address. Zoom’s reporting overview adds that “only meetings hosted by paid accounts will generate reports.”

So the list lives with the organizer. Ask them for it, or ask for three specific intros instead, which is a smaller favor and gets you further. Either way, the host is the first person on your follow up list. More on that below.

What to send when you follow up after virtual networking event breakouts

Send one short note per person that names the event, quotes what they said, and offers something or asks one clear question. Keep each one to 40 words or fewer.

Pick the channel by what you have:

What you saved	Best channel	Notes
Phone number from chat	Text	Fastest reply, keep it to two lines
Email from chat	Email	Subject line names the event
Name and firm only	LinkedIn connection note	Free accounts get 3 personalized notes a month, 200 characters each
Nothing but a first name	Ask the host	One ask, not a chase

The LinkedIn limit is from LinkedIn’s help page on personalized invitations: standard members can send up to 3 personalized invitation notes per month, each capped at 200 characters. Spend them on the people who matter most. For the rest of the LinkedIn playbook, see how to follow up on LinkedIn after a conference.

Illustrative examples, each under 40 words:

To someone from your breakout: “Good breakout in today’s virtual session. You said you want HVAC add ons in Colorado. I know a broker who just listed one near Boulder. Want the intro?”

To someone who posted in the chat: “Saw your note in the chat about SBA timelines running long. Same issue on our side. Worth a 15 minute call next week to compare lenders?”

To the host: “Thanks for running today’s session. The breakout format worked. If you are planning the next one, I know two operators who would add a lot. Happy to send them your way.”

Who do you follow up with first after a virtual event?

The host first, then the one or two people with a live deal or a specific ask, then everyone else you had a real exchange with. The host controls the list, the next invite and the next speaking slot, and almost nobody thanks them.

Here is the 30 day timeline I would use:

When	Who	What
Last 5 minutes of the call	Everyone	Save chat, names, one sentence each
Same day	Host	Thank you plus an offer
Within 48 hours	Live deal or specific ask	Note that quotes what they said
Within 48 hours	Everyone else worth keeping	LinkedIn note or short email
Day 7	Anyone who replied	Book the call or make the intro
Day 30	Anyone who went quiet	One touch with a new reason

The 48 hour window matters more online than in person because a virtual event leaves a weaker memory. For the reasoning, see the 48 hour rule for networking follow up.

What do you do 30 days after a virtual event?

Touch the people who went quiet once, with a new reason, and then let the system carry them. A new reason is something that happened to them: they posted about a close, their firm was in the news, they spoke on another panel. “Just circling back” is not a reason.

If you attend one virtual event a week, that is 52 rooms a year. Say you have three real exchanges in each. That is about 150 people a year you met once on a screen, illustrative math, and almost none of them will remember you unless you are the one who stays in touch.

Here is how I would run it

Full disclosure: I built FRONT OF MIND, so weigh this accordingly.

During the call, open it in your phone browser and use Capture. Say a name and a sentence out loud, the lender’s name plus “wants HVAC add ons in Colorado,” and it is filed under the event. FRONT OF MIND has no native iPhone app yet. It runs in the phone browser and you can save it to your home screen.

The next morning, open it to your 10 minutes for today. Each person has a one line reason why today, like you met at an event two days ago and never followed up. Each draft is written like a text, 40 words max, and nothing sends without your tap. It learns from your edits so the next draft sounds more like you.

Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Export or delete anytime.

If FRONT OF MIND doesn’t surface people in your network worth reaching out to within 72 hours, we’ll refund you. No questions asked.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and 1 intro, then $29 a month. Try it after your next virtual session and see who comes up first. See how it works

See how it works