A member recently pulled a brick of acquired business cards out of her drawer and exclaimed, “THIS is what happens when you give me a card.” We all agreed with her. If you don’t have an intern on hand who enjoys mindless data entry, all those cards you get are basically just contributing to a never ending vortex of meaningless information sharing and paper wasting.

The Cohere community hopped to action and brainstormed a list of 3 ways that we can forego the traditional business card. 

1. Go old-fashioned and make a gravestone-like rubbing of any card that is offered to you. It works! I tried it with my Cohere cards and it winds up being nearly as useful as an actual card. Plus, it’s WAY more fun to do. Crayons smell really good.

2. Use your phone to “scan” a business card that is offered to you. See how member Julie uses her vintage Palm Pre that has zero useful apps to hover over this card. It’s more effective when she makes a “boop” noise while doing this. After scanning, simply hand the card back to its rightful owner.

3. Be memorable. If you want to ensure that you’ll never need to buy business cards again, do something at the event that makes you unforgettable and google-able. I’ve only recently started to go to events and lunch without cards. My feeling is, if the person is truly interested in me, they’ll remember at least one way to google me. “Angel + Cohere or Coworking” will land you about 12 pages of relevant search results in google and easy ways to track me down. Hell, there’s even a photo of my face on page 1–easy enough.

If taking a rubbing of a card or fake scanning one with an ill-equipped device doesn’t make you memorable, then find a way to be!

What are some ways that you can be memorable at your next meeting, event or coffee date?