Hoogah
The Hoogah Journal

Notes on intentional networking, community, and designing for belonging.

Writing from Khushi and Joe on why connection has to be designed, not hoped for. Every piece is written for the person running the event.

Featured · Metrics

The Hoogah Journal · Issue 09

August 26, 2026

Why networking at events doesn’t work.

Run the event, send the form, wait two weeks, then read what a self-selecting minority remembers. It is the slowest possible way to learn something.

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett
August 26, 2026

8 min read
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The Archive

Earlier writing, still worth your time.

Short essays, long thinking. From the people building Hoogah.

MetricsAugust 26, 2026

How Real-Time Event Analytics Help Organizers Make Better Decisions

Run the event, send the form, wait two weeks, then read what a self-selecting minority remembers. It is the slowest possible way to learn something.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
EngagementAugust 25, 2026

Remote Event Attendees Shouldn't Feel Like Second-Class Guests

They paid similar money. One group left with contacts and the other left with a browser tab they closed.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
RetentionAugust 24, 2026

How to Increase Repeat Attendance Without Increasing Your Budget

Attendance dips, so you book a more expensive keynote. The numbers hold for one edition, then slide again, and your cost per attendee is higher than ever.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
MetricsAugust 23, 2026

Event Sponsors Aren't Paying for Headcount

A sponsor who pays for access to twelve hundred people and speaks to nine of them has not received what the deck implied. The number was accurate. The value was not.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

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FacilitationAugust 22, 2026

How to Design Conversations People Don't Want to Leave

One group is watching the clock. Another has forgotten there is a clock. Same event, same attendees, same forty minutes on the schedule.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
MatchmakingAugust 21, 2026

How Event Matchmaking Helps Attendees Meet the Right People

An attendee at a 400-person event has roughly 80,000 possible pairings and about nine seconds of information per person. Working blind produces predictable results.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
RetentionAugust 20, 2026

Why Some Events Become Communities and Others Don't

Some events develop a gravity that has nothing to do with the programme. Others, with bigger budgets and better names, start from zero every single time.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

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StrategyAugust 19, 2026

The Biggest Networking Mistake Event Organizers Make

It is the only session of the day with no facilitator, no structure and no defined outcome. It is also the reason most people bought a ticket.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

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MatchingAugust 18, 2026

Why Shared Interests Create Better Conversations Than Job Titles

Two heads of marketing from different industries have their role in common and almost nothing else. Two people working on the same problem have everything to discuss.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

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EngagementAugust 17, 2026

Virtual Events Solved Content. Connection Is Still Broken.

The video is clean, the chat moves, the recording is up by the afternoon. Then the session ends, four hundred people close a tab, and none of them know each other.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
MetricsAugust 16, 2026

Beyond Registration: What Every Event Organizer Should Be Tracking Live

You spend nine months planning an event and go blind the moment it starts. The survey arrives two weeks later, about a day you can no longer change.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
MetricsAugust 15, 2026

What Metrics Actually Measure a Successful Event

Ticket sales prove people showed up. They do not prove anything happened once they did. Here are the event KPIs that describe whether the room worked.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

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FacilitationAugust 14, 2026

The Difference Between Awkward Breakout Rooms and Great Conversations

Twelve people, one person talking, ten minutes of polite silence. The gap between that room and a great one is four decisions made before the session started.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

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MatchmakingAugust 13, 2026

Networking Isn't About Meeting More People. It's About Meeting the Right People.

Three hundred people, ninety minutes, and a drinks table. The problem was never the number of people in the room. It was that nobody knew which ones mattered.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
RetentionAugust 12, 2026

People Loved Your Event. So Why Didn't They Come Back?

Your speakers delivered and the feedback was glowing. Then half the room didn't return. Repeat attendance is a relationship problem, not a content problem.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
MatchingAugust 11, 2026

Why Attendees Don't Know Who to Talk To at Events

Some attendees never engage at networking events. Not because they don't want to, but because they don't know who to talk to. Here's how to fix it.

By

Khushi Yadav

Read
StrategyAugust 10, 2026

Why Networking Should Start Before Your Event Does

The room sorts itself in the first 90 seconds. By then it's too late. The smartest organizers in 2026 start matching attendees the moment registration closes, not when the doors open.

By

Joe Lovett & Khushi Yadav

Read
MetricsJuly 24, 2026

How to Measure Networking ROI at Your Event

Networking is the #1 reason attendees come, but most organizers can't prove it worked. Here's how to measure networking ROI with real metrics in 2026.

By

Joe Lovett

Read
EngagementJuly 10, 2026

Engaged But Not Connected: The Event Engagement Trap

Your engagement metrics look great, but attendees aren't actually connecting. Here's the gap between event engagement and real connection in 2026.

By

Joe Lovett & Khushi Yadav

Read
FacilitationJune 26, 2026

How to Facilitate Networking Events Without the Awkwardness

The host says 'go network' and the room freezes. That awkward 30 seconds isn't an attendee problem. It's a format problem. Here's how to design it out.

By

Khushi Yadav

Read
NetworkingJune 12, 2026

Why Networking at Events Doesn't Work (And How to Fix It)

Most event networking sessions fall flat. Here's why unstructured networking fails, and how organizers design connection that actually sticks in 2026.

By

Khushi Yadav & Joe Lovett

Read
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