On the cards

g whether traditional business cards are still necessary?

In today’s world of social media and electronic networking it is a valid question. Personally, I find myself communicating with my contacts more and more on LinkedIn and Twitter and I can see a day when perhaps the humble business card will be lost on a new generation – but in my opinion, that won’t be anytime soon.

The argument against business cards is that they’re becoming superfluous. The article mentions a tech consultant Dave Birch who believes that business cards will go the same way as vinyl in the music industry, appealing to a small number of diehards and traditionalists. Word on the street is that punters at hip and trendy exhibitions and networking events are using apps like Bump to collect and then upload details to the user’s contact database. Who knows, with innovations like Google Glass emerging in the marketplace, perhaps all it will take is a Paddington Bear type stare between two participating individuals to exchange contact details. God I hope not!

I like to think I’m quite techie and I certainly don’t shy away from using technology to make my life easier but I’m actually a fan of the traditional business card. Exchanging cards just feels like the natural thing to do after the initial handshake and it almost provides some kind of unwritten authority to facilitate further communication in the future. It’s a statement as much as anything else.

And then of course there’s the cultural thing. If you’re doing business in Japan for example things tend to be done in a much more traditional manner. Waving your smartphone around just won’t cut the mustard and in fact it could be seen as being disrespectful.

Whilst I accept that times they are a-changing – at a show like MACH you’re just as likely to meet a person on a stand dressed in a polo shirt as you are a suit – dispensing with business cards, particularly in our industry, is probably a bridge too far. They’ve been around for 500 years now and I think it’s definitely a case of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’!