Blog / Networking
How to remember the people you meet
Names slip, faces blur and contacts pile up with no context. A simple system for remembering who people are, where you met them and why it mattered.
· 5 min read
Your phone has hundreds of contacts you can’t place. A name with a number tells you nothing about who the person is, where you met or what you meant to do next. Remembering people isn’t a talent, it’s a system with three parts: where, when and why.
Where: the place is the strongest memory
You’ll forget a name long before you forget a place. “The founder from the Lisbon café” brings someone back instantly. Save the place with the person, and you can find them again by searching for it.
When: dates give you order
Knowing you met in March or at last year’s conference tells you how warm the relationship is and whether a follow-up is overdue.
Why: one line of context
Write one sentence about what you talked about or what you promised. That line is the difference between “Hi, we met somewhere” and “How did the seed round go?”
Setuvara saves where and when you met with every Connection, and you can add a private note. Search by event or city to find someone months later.
Make it automatic
- Connect on the spot, by QR or tap, instead of “I’ll find you online”.
- Write the note before the next conversation starts.
- Review the week’s new people every Friday, five minutes.
- Reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to in months, once a week.
Keep personal and work separate
The friend you met at a dinner and the client you met at a trade fair belong in different places. Sharing a different page for each keeps your contacts, and your context, clean.
One account, separate Modes: Personal for friends, Business for work and Event for the room you’re in.
