Conferences and conventions can be great for jump-starting your career, but often instead end up being a few over-scheduled, unproductive days out of the office. Instead, maximize the value of your next conference trip and make it a positive inflection point in your career. Here's how.

Read on: blog.WednesdayWin.com​

Read time: 4 minutes

The keys to a great conference are preparation, presence, focus, and follow-up. Let's break down each one (plus a bonus):

1. Be prepared

The time to guarantee a great show is in advance. Beyond the basic logistics of travel, timelines and schedules, and credentials and access, be proactive in getting ready for your event.

Join the conference social network or attendee site. Review the event schedule and sketch out a plan of when you'll be in sessions, exploring the expo floor, and blocking out time for smaller group meetings. Review the speakers and panelists and prioritize who you want to meet. Post a note about your attendance on LinkedIn or platforms relevant to your industry.

Schedule meetings in advance. In addition to whatever in-bound requests you receive, most large organizations have forms or email addresses they advertise for requesting a meeting. Use them. Reach out to targets who you think might be attending. Watch social media for announcements from companies and individuals. The time to fill your schedule is before you get on the plane.

• Use any available event platforms tied to the conference to network in advance
• Make it easy for others to find you and request a meeting
• Plan a logical agenda focused on key events and locations to avoid burning time during peak transit periods especially if it's a big show
• Reach out to key companies and leaders you want to meet through their company platforms or direct outreach

2. Be present & engage

One of the great reasons to attend a major industry convention in person is the serendipitous or unexpected connections you can make by exploring the convention floor, talking to people in your company's booth, or meeting people at the connected social events.

To make those new connections, you need to be open in attitude, friendly in demeanor, and ready to listen with a focus on being helpful to those you meet. Attendees are expecting to have lots of conversations with people they've never met before so dive right in.

You aren't moving the needle for your company, product, or career if you are sitting in your hotel room. Make new connections, explore new content, and check out what others in your industry are trying.

• Conferences exist to help people make new connections
• Engage with the people around you: meet others in line, waiting for a session to start, or on the expo floor
• Participate in the social events and parties
• Look for meetups or bird of a feather gatherings on topics of interest
• Share content on social media about the event and make it easy for others to find you

3. Be focused, but flexible

Since you've prepared with care, you'll arrive at your event with a well thought out plan. Now, get ready to make some changes.

Don't skip out out on key sessions or planned meetings, but be open to discovering new relevant programming, new speakers, last minute meeting requests, and new invitations.

Take the best of both: your plan and the good fortune of new information and new opportunities.

• Planning is essential, but the plan itself can be changed
• Stay focused on your primary goals whether it's to learn new information, meet specific people, build up your industry profile, or something else
• Where your plan had gaps, look for new opportunities to meet or connect
• And for major events, don't forget to get a little rest, too

4. Be follow-up royalty

We all start with the best of intentions. We collect new contacts, scan new LinkedIn connections, and stack up the business cards, but all too often, that's where it ends.

Prioritize the actionable opportunities from your meetings whether formal or informal. And then take action! Reach out. Follow-up. Send what you promised to send. Make the introductions you promised to make. And act on what you have learned.

One key tip: before you leave for your event, block-out time on your calendar after you'll be back to send emails, make calls, and engage with your new contacts. Protect the necessary time in advance.

• Don't make commitments you can't keep during the show
• Don't skip any commitments that you made
• Light connections established during an event need prompt follow-up to reinforce the relationship
• Protect the time you need in advance and then stick to it

5. Bonus: make the most of the travel

Whether you are driving, flying, or taking the train, if you are attending an event far from home, you have a secret advantage built-in to make the most of your event attendance.

Use the time that it takes you to travel home to review your notes, collect your thoughts, and detail all of the potential opportunities you encountered. Act while the new ideas and fresh learning is easy to recall. Try to identify the best and most urgent contacts to reinforce, new ideas to put into action, and new perspectives you can share with colleagues.

Use that travel time to multiply the value of your attendance.

Action Summary

Attending a major industry event can be costly and often stressful no matter what role you are in. Go in prepared and make the most of the effort.

• Prepare in advance
• Be fully present and engage with those around you
• Know your plan, but adjust if new opportunities emerge
• Stay on top of your follow-up

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What do you think? What are your suggestions for having a fully productive conference experience? Reply to this email and let me know.

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To your success,

Christopher

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P.S. Like this one? You'll probably want to check out this earlier Wednesday Win essay on how to step up your EQ to lead effectively, too.

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