How to get the most out of a professional conference
Today and for the next few days, I am attending a professional conference. For 4 1/2 days, I will be surrounded by a very large number of people (8000+) representing customers, technical professionals, executives, gurus, and wannabes. With literally hundreds of sessions and all those people, how do you make the most of the opportunity without killing yourself ? Here are three suggestions:
1) 
Arrived with a problem to solve. It can be real or made up but it should be something that the collective attendance could solve if they were working together on the problem. You now have something real to be thinking about as you choose sessions to attend,. The problem will also help your attention to the speakers and their content. It will also help you form good questions for the Q&A session. A real world problem to discuss will also make you memorable when you talk to product vendors and technical professionals. You might even end up with one of the coveted chachkies for vendors.
2) Have a professional goal to achieve or agenda to present. You will want to have a well rehearsed elevator pitch of not more than 30 seconds. You want a more in depth answer but only if your recipient shows interest. You want to seek out decision makers. The environment of a professional conference provides a captive audience and a much higher than normal concentration of prime candidates.
To start a conversation when you meet a candidate to pitch your idea, you will also want a good answer to the question of “what do you do” or if you are renewing a contact, “what are you doing now”. It should be interesting, truthful, and if you are lucky, it will lead to a conversation. Professional conferences are a great opportunity to network, build professional relationships, investigate job opportunities, etc. The conference is not the place to close deals. The goal is to build interest in you or your idea. Remember to establish a follow-up plan. Don’t for get to say “thank you” - regardless of how the meeting went.
3) Pace your self. You want to last the entire conference. You also don’t want to appear to “force your idea” or “yourself” onto others. Remember, you want to impress your target audience not alienate them. You also may run into a key contact later in the conference or have a request for a follow-up. You want to be able to deliver your idea as crisp and fresh as at the start of the conference.
The above will make your experience much more enjoyable and more productive - both positive results!
