With the NACE conference right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to put together my tips and tricks for conference preparation. There is an infinite amount of planning which goes into these events, and attendees should take similar care in preparing for large industry conferences.
Since there is always travel involved in attending a conference, a travel agenda is extremely important. There is nothing worse than showing up to your hotel, and they don’t have your reservation on file. Create a single document with all of your travel information and the associated confirmation numbers as well as your loyalty or rewards number. Be sure to also include the customer service numbers for each agency which you have reservations with. In the event of a hiccup, you will quickly be able to contact help. Some other details to prepare for are weather and wardrobe so you can pack accordingly.
Always pre-schedule your meetings. It is virtually impossible to get any significant amount of time with someone of importance in passing. Unless you have a project based meeting, try to keep your meetings to a 30-minute maximum. Make sure you have a clear objective for your meetings so you can be respectful of others’ time. Prepare a meeting agenda for the conference which includes the name, title, company and contact information for whom you are meeting. Individual meetings often run overtime and it is essential to keep open lines of communication, even if it is a quick text to alert someone you might be running late. If you are unable to pre-schedule your meetings, have a list of individuals you would like to make contact with and look through the conference agenda for opportunities where you might come in contact with those individuals. If you are able to make contact, make your introduction brief but memorable. Ask if it would be ok to follow up with the individual via email to schedule something at a later time, even if it is a phone call instead of an in-person meeting.
In the example of NACE, there are often multiple events happening simultaneously. It is very easy to lose track of time and location of all these events. Even though the organization publishes a schedule of events, I always make a personal agenda which includes the time, address, the room number if applicable, and the speaker of each session I am planning to attend in chronological order. It is also beneficial to download the app for the event if available. Currently, there is an app called Bizzabo which accesses the CIC event, and an independent app for NACE. This is an excellent way to have information at your fingertips and to bookmark things on the go. While an electronic device and a paper copy might seem redundant, you can never guarantee cell service.
Last, but absolutely not least; business cards, business cards, business cards. Just when you think you have packed enough business cards, pack more. There is nothing worse than running out of cards at industry events. While I am on the topic of cards, I’ll add a note about receiving them. I often come home from a conference with a dauntingly large stack of cards which is an excellent problem to have. However, after a week of meet and greets, it is difficult to remember every detail about everyone you meet. What I find helpful is to keep a running list of each person’s card I collect and a few brief bullets about what we spoke about and any follow up I have committed to. I generally wait 3-5 days to follow up with each person I’ve committed to as a courtesy. I think we have all experienced being bombarded with emails after a conference.
My final thoughts here are really focused around preparation. When the minor details are taken care of, you can focus on the importance of why you are attending the conference in the first place. It is often costly to attend a conference and you want to get the most out of the event as possible. They can be stressful, and run on a strict time schedule. The more prepared you are ahead of time, the less likely you are to find yourself rushing around and missing out on the true value of what the conference has to offer; but don’t forget to relax and take some time to unwind, network, and make new friends at the receptions.
Since there is always travel involved in attending a conference, a travel agenda is extremely important. There is nothing worse than showing up to your hotel, and they don’t have your reservation on file. Create a single document with all of your travel information and the associated confirmation numbers as well as your loyalty or rewards number. Be sure to also include the customer service numbers for each agency which you have reservations with. In the event of a hiccup, you will quickly be able to contact help. Some other details to prepare for are weather and wardrobe so you can pack accordingly.
Always pre-schedule your meetings. It is virtually impossible to get any significant amount of time with someone of importance in passing. Unless you have a project based meeting, try to keep your meetings to a 30-minute maximum. Make sure you have a clear objective for your meetings so you can be respectful of others’ time. Prepare a meeting agenda for the conference which includes the name, title, company and contact information for whom you are meeting. Individual meetings often run overtime and it is essential to keep open lines of communication, even if it is a quick text to alert someone you might be running late. If you are unable to pre-schedule your meetings, have a list of individuals you would like to make contact with and look through the conference agenda for opportunities where you might come in contact with those individuals. If you are able to make contact, make your introduction brief but memorable. Ask if it would be ok to follow up with the individual via email to schedule something at a later time, even if it is a phone call instead of an in-person meeting.
In the example of NACE, there are often multiple events happening simultaneously. It is very easy to lose track of time and location of all these events. Even though the organization publishes a schedule of events, I always make a personal agenda which includes the time, address, the room number if applicable, and the speaker of each session I am planning to attend in chronological order. It is also beneficial to download the app for the event if available. Currently, there is an app called Bizzabo which accesses the CIC event, and an independent app for NACE. This is an excellent way to have information at your fingertips and to bookmark things on the go. While an electronic device and a paper copy might seem redundant, you can never guarantee cell service.
Last, but absolutely not least; business cards, business cards, business cards. Just when you think you have packed enough business cards, pack more. There is nothing worse than running out of cards at industry events. While I am on the topic of cards, I’ll add a note about receiving them. I often come home from a conference with a dauntingly large stack of cards which is an excellent problem to have. However, after a week of meet and greets, it is difficult to remember every detail about everyone you meet. What I find helpful is to keep a running list of each person’s card I collect and a few brief bullets about what we spoke about and any follow up I have committed to. I generally wait 3-5 days to follow up with each person I’ve committed to as a courtesy. I think we have all experienced being bombarded with emails after a conference.
My final thoughts here are really focused around preparation. When the minor details are taken care of, you can focus on the importance of why you are attending the conference in the first place. It is often costly to attend a conference and you want to get the most out of the event as possible. They can be stressful, and run on a strict time schedule. The more prepared you are ahead of time, the less likely you are to find yourself rushing around and missing out on the true value of what the conference has to offer; but don’t forget to relax and take some time to unwind, network, and make new friends at the receptions.
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