NetWalking: How To Run Your Own
A guide for anyone who wants to start one. Created by Alex Ngai, Tokyo. March 2026.The Idea
NetWalking is the bare minimum event. That's by design.
The more you add to it, the more complex it becomes, and the further it drifts from the only thing that matters: connecting people as naturally as possible.
No stage. No sponsors. No agenda. No pitch. Just a group of people walking, talking, and enjoying the city together. The format is deliberately simple because simplicity is what makes it stick. Anyone can organize one. Anyone can show up. The barrier to entry is zero on both sides.
Deals have been done between members. Members have hired each other. Friendships, collaborations, and all kinds of connections have come out of these walks. But those are natural outcomes, not the goal. The goal is simpler than that: give people a reason to show up, walk together, and have one good conversation.
That's it.
What You Need
Nametags. That's the only material.
The only decision you need to make each month is where to meet. Everything else follows the standard format below. It's worked for 19+ walks in Tokyo over two years. Use it as-is or adapt it to your city.
The Format
Time: 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Distance: Up to 5km
Cost: Free
Charity: Collect a small donation at the end (we do ¥100 per km walked, about $1)
These four things are fixed. They don't change walk to walk. Fixing them means you only ever need to decide one thing each month: where to meet.
Choosing a Location
Go with what feels right. In Tokyo, we default to riverside paths and parks. The best routes have open space, room to walk side by side, and a natural endpoint like a café or station.
Some starting points:
- A riverside or park path is always a safe default
- Meet at a train station or landmark near the route, somewhere easy to find
- If a local business or community partner wants to collaborate, walk to or from their venue
- Avoid routes that require single-file walking, excessive road crossings, or loud traffic
Running the Walk
Here's the timeline. It's the same every time.
12:00 — Arrive at the meeting point. Be there 15 minutes early. You're the host, so you're the first face people see.
12:00 to 12:20 — Wait for people to gather. Hand out nametags as they arrive. Don't rush this. People trickle in, and that's fine. Use this time to welcome newcomers, introduce people to each other, and let the energy build naturally.
12:20 — Make a quick announcement that you're starting to walk. Nothing formal, just let the group know it's time to move. People will naturally form small clusters of two to four. Let it happen.
~13:00 (after about 2km or 1 hour) — Find a good place to pause. A park bench area, a wide section of path, anywhere the group can form a loose circle. Do a round of introductions.
Introductions: Keep them short. Three things only.
- Your name
- How long you've been in [city]
- When should people call you (what do you do, what are you looking for, what are you into)
After everyone has introduced themselves, tell the group to shuffle. People who were walking together in the first half should find someone new for the second half. Say it directly: "Find someone you haven't talked to yet."
13:00 to 14:00 — Continue walking to the destination. The energy is usually higher after introductions because people now have context on each other.
14:00 — Arrive at the endpoint. Thank everyone for coming. Collect the charity donation (keep it casual, pass around a bag or envelope). Give people a few minutes to exchange contact info, take photos, and say goodbye.
The event ends at 2:00pm. If people want to grab lunch or coffee afterwards, that's up to them. It's not part of the walk. Keeping a hard end time respects everyone's afternoon and keeps the format clean.
What Not to Do
The temptation is always to add more. Resist it. The focus is the people themselves and the highlight is the memories and connections they make.
Don't require RSVPs. Let people show up. The lower the commitment threshold, the more people come. Some of your best regulars will be the ones who decide to join 30 minutes before the walk starts.
Don't add a speaker or presentation. The walk is the activity. The conversation is the content. The moment you put someone on a stage (even a small one), the dynamic shifts from community to audience.
Don't make it a networking event. No elevator pitches, no business card exchanges, no "tell us about your company" intros. People will network naturally if they want to. Your job is to create the conditions, not force the outcome.
Don't add sponsors. The moment a brand's name is on the nametags or gets mentioned in the intro circle, the premise breaks. The whole point is that this isn't a corporate event. Keep it clean.
Don't overthink the route. You don't need a guide, a historical tour, or a curated experience. You need a path that lets people walk and talk. That's all.
Format Variations
The core format adapts to conditions. We've run these in Tokyo:
NetWalking — The default. Good weather, daytime, riverside or park.
NiteWalking — Evening variation for longer days or summer heat.
NetRunning — For the runners in the group. Same format, faster pace.
NetChilling — Bad weather fallback. Meet at a café or indoor space instead.
The name changes. The principle doesn't. Keep it simple, keep it human, keep it open.
Starting Your Own
You don't need permission. You don't need a budget. You don't need a website. You need nametags and a meeting point.
Pick a date. Pick a place. Tell people about it. Show up 15 minutes early. Be warm. Be consistent. Do it again next month.
The first walk might bring one person (Tokyo started that way). That's fine. The twentieth walk might be fifty. The format works at any size because the unit of connection is a conversation between two people, and that scales on its own.
If you want to call it NetWalking, go for it. If you want to call it something else, that's fine too. The format is open. Take it, run it, make it yours.
The only thing that matters is that people walk away from your event thinking: "That was easy. I met someone interesting. I'll come back."
The Principle Behind All of It
Most events optimize for content, speakers, production value, or sponsor visibility. NetWalking optimizes for one thing: the quality of conversation between two strangers walking side by side.
Everything in the format exists to serve that. The fixed time removes decision fatigue. The nametags remove the awkwardness of forgetting names. The intro circle gives people just enough context to have a real conversation. The shuffle forces variety. The hard end time keeps it from dragging.
And walking itself does the rest. People talk differently when they're moving. There's no eye contact pressure. Silences feel natural instead of awkward. The shared direction creates a subtle sense of partnership. Conversations go deeper, faster, with less effort.
That's the whole trick. There is no trick. Just walk.
NetWalking started in Tokyo in 2024. 19+ walks and counting. If you start one in your city, let us know at netwalking.net.