Businesses will have the chance to communicate with customers and each other like they did in the good old days — face-to-face — during a Hampton Chamber of Commerce event in Suffolk on May 30.

Mingle On Main Street will be held in the outdoor pavilion at Suffolk Visitors Center, 524 N. Main St., from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

“In this day and age, quite frankly, everybody communicates via cellphones and email, and it’s a good time for people to put a face to a name,” Dean McClain, the chamber’s Suffolk division director, said of the event.

In 2012, it was held in the covered pavilion for the first time in order to showcase the facility, McClain said.

“It’s a way to give the opportunity for businesses, small and large, to gather and network,” he said.

About 150 to 175 folks attended last year, according to McClain. “For a first-time event, it was very good,” he said, citing beer tastings from Norfolk’s O’Conner Brewing Company as one highlight.

“The chamber being regional,” the event aims to draw folks from other cities to also showcase what Suffolk has to offer, he said.

“It’s what I call networking as it used to be done. … I can only personally say, if I’m going to go and do business with somebody, I would probably want to meet them and see them in person and in action.

“I understand the retail aspect of things when people go online and shop and point and click, but you miss the element of the human interaction.”

Tabletop exhibitors can participate in the event for $100 for chamber members and $200 for nonmembers, which includes one tabletop space and two beverage tickets.

For nonmembers who then want to join the chamber, this vendor fee is applied to dues paid by June 30.

Otherwise, event entry is $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers.

McClain encouraged businesses wanting to take advantage of the networking opportunity to get on board.

“Space is available,” he said. “I look forward to members, nonmembers and the general public getting involved.”

For more information, contact Maggie Cromwell at 664-2537 or mcromwell@hrccva.com. Businesses can also register online at Events.HamptonRoadsChamber.com.

The Suffolk News-Herald is a platinum sponsor of the event, whose host sponsor is the city of Suffolk and radio sponsors are 97.3 The Eagle, Hot 100.5 and 92.9 The Wave.