Tech Conference Survival Guide
Some people live for conference season.
They look forward to the parties, the networking, the talks, the chance
to meet and greet with the best and brightest of their industry. For
others, the thought of being stuck in a busy conference hall with thousands of
people for several days fills them with dread. Whichever end of the spectrum
you’re on, it’s hard to deny that conferences are both exciting and tiring.
Next time your boss hands you some plane tickets and a name badge, try
these conference survival tips:
Pace
yourself
Don’t
fall into the trap of trying to do a year’s worth of networking in just three
days. Learn to pace yourself. Conferences are supposed to be about
networking and learning, not playing Pokemon with name badges. Instead of
rushing from table to table trying to speak to as many people as possible, try
to focus on having quality interactions with the people that you meet.
Make
time for sleep
The
average conference calendar features parties every single night; often, there
are official parties, sponsor parties, unofficial parties, tweetups, after
parties, and “we couldn’t make it to the real conference but we’re partying
here anyway” parties. Do you really need to attend them all? It’s nice to
make it to one or two post conference sessions, just for the chance to chat
with your friends, but staying fresh and alert for the conference itself is
more important. If you make time for sleep, you’ll be less stressed and
tired during the last few days of the conference, and more likely to make it
home without the conference flu.
Tweet
Twitter
is an amazing tool for networking. If you make it through an entire conference
without someone saying “Ooh, are you the person with the [monkey/space
ship/dog/delete as appropriate] as their avatar?” then you either have a photo
of yourself as your Twitter avatar, or you’re not Tweeting enough.
Twitter
is a great place to network, keep up with what’s going on at sessions that you
couldn’t get to, and find out what the general mood is at the conference.
Even if you don’t think much of social media, it’s a good idea to keep an
eye on the conference hashtag and Facebook page. If nothing else, it will
prevent you from falling into a mental bubble because you’re so busy rushing
from talk to talk that you fail to take in what other people are saying.
Read
the program
This
might seem obvious, but the first thing you should do when you arrive at the
venue is pick up a copy of the program and read it. There’s little more
frustrating than finding out that you missed out on an exciting workshop or
keynote because you didn’t know that it was happening, or because you failed to
notice the sign saying that the time slot had moved. Pick up the program, grab
a coffee from the dining area, and take a few minutes to plan your schedule for
the day. This “break” first thing in the morning might be the only free
time you have except for lunch, so enjoy it.
Author Bio:
This post was written by the team at Name Badges International
– global name badge experts .
