1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,639 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to get more out of 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: virtual conferences. While some groups are starting to meet in 5 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: person again as more people are vaccinated against COVID, virtual 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,159 Speaker 1: gatherings will likely be with us for a while, and 7 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: that's not a bad thing. With a little thought, you 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: can get a lot of the upsides of in person 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: conferences and some additional benefits too. When you think about 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: regular in person conferences, they tended to serve two functions. 11 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: One was the content, letting people discover new trends or 12 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: ideas in an industry or gain access to experts that 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: they wouldn't normally learn from. The second was to meet 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: people in person and to tighten existing relationships. While people 15 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: spend a lot of time and effort focused on the 16 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: programming que the angst over which panel do I attend, 17 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: I'd argue that the latter is a lot more important. 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: With many conferences, you'd be better off parking yourself at 19 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: the coffee station or in the hallway and setting up 20 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: lots of appointments with other attendees, rather than attending any sessions. 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: So that suggests an obvious drawback of virtual conferences. If 22 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: the biggest upside of most conferences was meeting people in person, 23 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: and virtual conferences are well virtual, what is the point? 24 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: But you can still get some of the networking benefits 25 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: if you are proactive about it. First, when you sign 26 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: up for virtual conference, do the work of figuring out 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: who else is going who you'd like to meet. Ask colleagues, 28 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: ask your network, Ask your network if they know any 29 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: one who's going that you should connect with. Post on 30 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: social media that you are going. The goal is to 31 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: get three names or so of people who would be 32 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: worthwhile to connect with, then figure out a way to 33 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: do just that. One idea is to arrange for both 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: you and a new connection to attend one of the 35 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: same sessions and then do a private debrief with each 36 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: other afterwards. This is kind of the equivalent of grabbing 37 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: coffee after a panel. If you already know the person 38 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: to some degree and you're looking to reconnect, well you 39 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: don't even need to bother with that. Just say, hey, 40 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: I saw we were both going to this conference. I'd 41 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: love to chat. Then get it on the calendar. The 42 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: conference is just a pretense but you know what, wasn't 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: it always? And in the virtual world you don't have 44 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: to spend the time and money on travel to make 45 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: that pretense happen. You might also host a small group 46 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: session with a hand full of attendees that you'd like 47 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: to get to know better. You know the drill. More 48 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: than six people are so on a virtual discussion can 49 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: sometimes become hard to manage, but about that number will 50 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: work great for something social. Think of this as the 51 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: equivalent of a few folks grabbing dinner together or hitting 52 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,679 Speaker 1: the bar. After a day of sessions. You can talk 53 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: about the conference and that would be a great starting point, 54 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: but presumably you will move on to other things too, 55 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: which is also great. You can also network with presenters 56 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: from virtual conferences by sending an email after any session 57 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: with your feedback. I can promise you these emails do 58 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: get read, even if they don't always garner a response, 59 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: and networking is partly about getting people to recognize your name. 60 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: If you send a thoughtful email to someone, the next 61 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: time they see your name in an industry publication or 62 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: on a discussion for them, this expert or industry leader 63 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: will think, oh, yeah, that's so and so she all 64 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: has smart ideas. From your perspective, this is a great 65 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: thought for such a person to think. And finally, with 66 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: virtual conferences, use the fact that you don't have to 67 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: take a break from your normal life or invest in 68 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: travel costs to attend. This means you can attend a 69 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: lot more conferences. The bar can be lower since it's 70 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: much less of a time cost. If there are even 71 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: maybe two people attending that you'd like to get to 72 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: know better, or there is one session you'd really like 73 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: to participate in, it might be worth it. You wouldn't 74 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: fly across the country for that, but joining a virtual 75 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:43,239 Speaker 1: program over your lunch break, I mean why not? Of course, 76 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: now that we are in year two of virtual conferences, 77 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: most organizers are recognizing how important the social and networking 78 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: functions are, and many are building in the opportunity for 79 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: small group sessions. If these are available, go ahead and 80 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: sign up. Getting to know a small group of industry 81 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: colleagues in a structured setting tends to be a wise idea. 82 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: And again, you don't have to go anywhere. Since you 83 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: can sign up for more conferences in the virtual world, 84 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: you can do even more of these sessions than you 85 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: might have when conferences only happen in person. I do 86 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: know that in person is coming back. I have a 87 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: few events on my calendar for the fall. But virtual 88 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: is great too because you can bring people from farther 89 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: afield and people can come who might have had family 90 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: or health reasons for not attending in the past. More 91 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: people means better networking, which, as we learned earlier, is 92 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: really the reason to go to conferences in the first place. 93 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 94 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 95 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 96 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 97 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod 98 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 99 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 100 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast 101 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, 102 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is 103 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from 104 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 105 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.