About Dagan Martinez-Vargas

Dagan Martinez-Vargas is the Austin-based author of Play the Room, a short guide to networking. His experience includes promotions for global alcohol brands, networking in Downtown Austin's tech scene, digital branding consulting, insurance industry networking, and years of sharing practical networking advice with individuals and groups.

Dagan Martinez-Vargas is the author of Play the Room and a native Austinite. He originally intended to follow his father's footsteps into dentistry, but while majoring in Biology at the University of Texas, he studied psychology and business and developed an interest in how people tick.

After graduation, Dagan spent a decade promoting global alcohol brands and networking at events in bars, restaurants, concerts, and other venues. That work taught him how to read a room, start conversations, and find opportunities to grow sales.

He later networked and promoted an app in Downtown Austin's tech scene and consulted on digital branding. Within two years he appeared on local media, became a finalist to pitch on the SXSW Accelerator stage, and reached the final round of consideration for Shark Tank.

More recently, Dagan has worked in the insurance industry, networking as the "King of Supplemental" and making it easier for people to talk about difficult subjects like cancer, heart disease, and death.

After sharing practical networking tips with dozens of individual networkers and groups on how to stand out, promote their businesses, and increase sales, Dagan wrote Play the Room to share his lifetime of experience in a quick read.

Known background

Native Austinite
Studied Biology at the University of Texas, with psychology and business
A decade promoting global alcohol brands at events and venues
Networked and promoted an app in Downtown Austin's tech scene
SXSW Accelerator pitch finalist
Final round of consideration for Shark Tank
Insurance industry networker known as the "King of Supplemental"

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What business networkers are saying

What business networkers say about Dagan

Authors, founders, chamber leadership and networking organization owners on how Dagan builds relationships.

Understanding the keys of how to build relationships quickly and how to nurture them to build long lasting friendships and partnerships is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Dagan lays out those skills in an easy to digest, quick read, that will help increase your spheres of influence, and your bottom line.
Dan Janjigian
Author of The Book on Selling
Dagan Martinez-Vargas is without a doubt one of the most exceptional networkers I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He effortlessly connects with people from all walks of life and cultivates relationships that are truly sustainable. He has an innate talent for bringing people together and creating meaningful connections that extend beyond the networking event. I am constantly in awe of his abilities and have no doubt that any person or business would benefit from reading his book.
Joshua B. Lee
Founder and CEO, Stand Out Authority
As an owner of a networking organization myself, I can professionally say that I've never networked with someone at the same level as Dagan Martinez-Vargas. He's the master at seeming to be everywhere at the same time and always succeeds at making his time talking at the meeting the most memorable of anyone. If this book teaches even a portion of what he does to you, then you're going to massively upgrade your networking game.
Justin Kessel
Franchise Owner, Central Texas Network In Action