SHHMOOZE:STRIKING UP A conversation with a stranger at a seminar or conference can be a challenge, all the more so if you are not a natural mixer. It's also a lucky dip.

Chatting to a random stranger might be useful for your business. It could also be a complete waste of time.

Taking the pain out of such situations is the goal of a new smartphone app that uses location-based services to help people connect with the “right” contacts at public events. The Shhmooze app is free to use for both event organisers and delegates.

“For Shhmooze to work, someone just needs to tell us about their event and we will add it to our database,” explains Michelle Gallen, who developed the application with business partner, Mehdi El Gueddari. “It lets you broadcast your presence at an event and helps you locate the people most likely to be of benefit to your business. With Shhmooze you don’t need to work a whole room.

“You can look at who else is using Shhmooze, see their business profile and, if they are of interest, make contact quickly and easily. You decide how little or how much information to give about yourself and your privacy is completely protected. There are other apps that capture professional information but it’s not reuseable. Shhmooze will work at every event registered with us, so you only have to input your information once. We see Shhmooze as LinkedIn meets Facebook meets Foursquare.”

The company is based in Belfast and the product was launched last November. Last month it was one of 20 apps from around the world shortlisted for the Mobile Premier Awards.

The firm is looking for funding to develop the application further. It says that in time event organisers will be able to pay to use additional features such as publishing schedules, posting speaker profiles and channelling official twitter feeds.

There are also plans for additional features for delegates such as an “SOS feature”, which they can activate to alerts the organisers if there is a problem at a conference, such as the air conditioning is not working, that has been spotted by delegates.

Shhmooze is an opt-in only app, so its success depends on it building up a cohort of people who are willing to use it.