Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to make conferences a better
Speaker 1: use of your time. I've gone to a great many
Speaker 1: conferences over the years, and when I was first doing so,
Speaker 1: I would often get frustrated by the whole experience. I'd
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time studying the conference booklet trying
Speaker 1: to figure out which panels to attend. I'd finally choose
Speaker 1: one that looked most helpful, and then it would be
Speaker 1: how shall I put this boring. I might get one
Speaker 1: or two insights sitting in a ninety minute session, and
Speaker 1: that's better than nothing, But I couldn't help feeling like
Speaker 1: I would have a higher rate of insights per minute
Speaker 1: by skimming a book. And since I'm an introvert, reading
Speaker 1: a book often feels more appealing than dealing with crowds. Plus,
Speaker 1: reading a book is cheaper than flying somewhere and getting
Speaker 1: a hotel room. But then at some point I realized
Speaker 1: conferences aren't just about the panels. You need some content
Speaker 1: to justify an event, which is good for me because
Speaker 1: I now make my living giving speeches at conferences. I
Speaker 1: also know that inviting people to be on panels is
Speaker 1: a good way for conference organizers to make sure a
Speaker 1: certain bigger name people in any given industry attend, But fundamentally,
Speaker 1: the main point of a conference is to bring people together.
Speaker 1: A conference gives you a chance to see people in
Speaker 1: person that you only know virtually, or to renew face
Speaker 1: to face ties with people you don't see frequently. Real
Speaker 1: relationships can be built with only occasional interaction, but that
Speaker 1: occasional interaction is very important. The week this episode first airs,
Speaker 1: I'll be attending the American Society of Journalists and Authors conference,
Speaker 1: where I'll say hello to some people I haven't seen
Speaker 1: in person in three or four years. But when we
Speaker 1: do see each other, it will remind us of what
Speaker 1: we like about each other. It will nudge us to
Speaker 1: work together on things in the future. I'm excited just
Speaker 1: thinking about the projects that might happen. If you recognize
Speaker 1: that conferences are about strengthening relationships, then that gives you
Speaker 1: permission to approach the whole thing differently. You don't race
Speaker 1: out of a conversation in the hallway to get a
Speaker 1: better seat for a panel, because most likely the conversation
Speaker 1: is a better use of your time. But over years
Speaker 1: of interviewing successful, well networked people, I've realized that the
Speaker 1: real breakthrough and using conference time well comes from planning ahead.
Speaker 1: It's great to bump into people in the hallway, but
Speaker 1: it's even better to make sure you know you're going
Speaker 1: to see the people that you want to see. So
Speaker 1: before you go to a conference, study the list of attendees.
Speaker 1: Some conferences published directories in a conference app, but if not,
Speaker 1: you can do some detective work. Call your friends in
Speaker 1: your industry and ask if they're going, Ask who else
Speaker 1: from their organizations will be going. Post on industry discussion
Speaker 1: boards or Facebook groups that you're going, see who else
Speaker 1: is too. Look through the list of presenters and sponsors
Speaker 1: and figure out who you've engaged with online or met tangentially,
Speaker 1: figure out who you'd like to get to know better.
Speaker 1: Then figure out how you can make this happen. One
Speaker 1: option is to set up lots of coffee dates. You
Speaker 1: could park yourself in the convention center or hotel Starbucks
Speaker 1: and set up coffee dates all day long if you wanted.
Speaker 1: Feel free to schedule these close together, because unlike job interviews,
Speaker 1: it's totally fine if they overlap. An overlap is actually
Speaker 1: kind of nice because it allows you to introduce people
Speaker 1: to each other, and the odds are good that if
Speaker 1: you wish to know too people better, they'll probably like
Speaker 1: each other as well. Of course, you might not know
Speaker 1: some people well enough to set up individual coffee dates,
Speaker 1: and some people don't like committing to certain times. They
Speaker 1: want to leave themselves open to opportunity, and at a
Speaker 1: conference that's understandable. So a good way to make it
Speaker 1: get together more casual is to organize a happy hour
Speaker 1: where people can come and go. You and one or
Speaker 1: two other people commit to being at a venue during
Speaker 1: an early night of the conference, maybe even the night
Speaker 1: before it starts, so you can get a jump on things.
Speaker 1: Then you all invite people to swing by. Some will come,
Speaker 1: and you'll get to know them better. You'll find out
Speaker 1: what they're working on and what they hope to get
Speaker 1: out of the conference. You'll have friendly faces to keep
Speaker 1: looking out for during the entire event. Some people you
Speaker 1: invite won't be able to come, of course, but organizing
Speaker 1: an event gives you a reason to reach out to
Speaker 1: them if you do bump into them later at the event.
Speaker 1: You'll have the feeling of knowing each other virtually. Your
Speaker 1: face to face meeting is almost like a second connection.
Speaker 1: In any case, if you've organized a happy hour where
Speaker 1: you're pretty sure five people you really want to get
Speaker 1: to know better will drop by, and you've set up
Speaker 1: four coffee dates, you won't worry about whether any given
Speaker 1: panel is a good use of your time or not.
Speaker 1: You already know the conference will strengthen your relationships. Anything
Speaker 1: you learn in a panel, it's just a little bit extra,
Speaker 1: much like that free water bottle you snag from the
Speaker 1: exhibit hall. So today, think about any upcoming conferences or
Speaker 1: professional development events. You're going to think about who you
Speaker 1: could plan to get together with, figure out how you'll
Speaker 1: make it happen. And if you've got a strategy for
Speaker 1: making good use of your time at conferences, please let
Speaker 1: me know. As always, you can email me at Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at before Breakfast podcast. At i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.