(Guest Post)
Once you’re fully immersed in the business world, it’s not uncommon for you to be invited to a series of conferences. Venues for conferences up and down the country may differ, as does the subject matter up for discussion; but one thing that remains the same whatever your field or sector is the need to make the most out of each and every event you attend.
Finally, you’re privileged enough to gain an insight from like-minded individuals; important figures from across the board that have made their way to the top and are now advising others how to benefit from their experiences. However, as fantastic as this opportunity can be, for many it’s a daunting prospect. So, as a means of avoiding the dreaded ‘fear’ that hits us at significant social occasions such as these, here’s our advice on how you can make the most of a conference event.
Goals
From our perspective, as soon as your receive the invitation you need to be asking yourself what you want to achieve from attending the conference. Set yourself a personal agenda; do you want to meet new people and establish more connections? Do you want to gain greater intelligence of the work environment you’re involved in? Is your goal to promote or encourage others to discover more about a product or expertise you have to offer? Whatever your ambitions might be, try to consider them well in advance. You’ll therefore have a higher chance of succeeding when putting them into action.
Learn
One of the primary purposes of conference events is to provide you with the chance to learn more about your field of work, so don’t miss out! Be sure to take a laptop or tablet in order to document any information or suggestions which you may find relevant or useful. These presentations and discussions are there for your benefit, so if there’s an area which you struggle in or are interested to discover more about, take note. Not only will this give you greater business confidence, and potentially new ideas, but your initiative will certainly impress employers.
Network
And finally, you can’t attend a conference event without taking the time to network. It’s very rare that opportunities such as these present themselves, so try to make the most of them. On arriving (or even beforehand) try to gauge who and which companies you’d like to connect with and aim not to leave until you’ve spoken to them. Handing business cards to attendees at a conference can open more doors than you realise. Be it new clients, inside knowledge or better job prospects, it’s definitely worth making the effort.