And Carrie On

It’s conference season in the higher education world, and thousands of colleagues will be heading to different conferences over the next few months to enhance their knowledge.

If you, or a member of your team, are heading to conferences, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the experience.

This is a topic I’ve written about several times, so be sure to check out previous conference tips for introverts and general conference tips as well.

Four Conference Tips

Here are four tips that I use to make the most of conferences and encourage my team to consider these as well.

Stretch Your Knowledge

Be sure to go to something that doesn’t exactly relate to your daily work. If you’re in a leadership role, go to something more tactical that relates to work your team does. This understanding will help you be a better leader. If you’re in one aspect of MarComm, go to a session on a different aspect of the work. This will help you better understand your colleagues.

Don’t Force Sessions

Sessions are important. However, there are times in the block of sessions that nothing is relevant, or I’m mentally worn out from prior sessions. If that’s the case, don’t force going to a session. Instead, have a coffee or a cocktail with someone at the conference. I find those conversations can be far more valuable. The catch here is don’t take that time away from sessions to go back to your room and check your email.

Sit Up Front

When you go to a session, it’s tempting to sit in the back (especially as an introvert). However, sitting in the front is better, and here is why. As you walk by the others in the room, you can find people you know. If you see a friend, feel free to sit with them. If not, sitting up front helps other people see you. You’re at the front, so as others walk in, they my see you and want to sit beside you. It also shows to the speaker you’re interested, so it’s good to send that message especially if it’s a great session and you want follow up conversation.

Find a Wing Person

If you have a colleague from your institution, see if they’re willing to go with you to events, networking receptions, etc. If you’re by yourself, be sure to get the attendee list early and reach out to someone you might know. I like to suggest we meet somewhere before the event, so we can walk into the event together. As an introvert, that’s always less stressful for me and helps me navigate the small talk without feeling so awkward.

Focus on Key Learnings

As a newer employee, I was so focused on gaining all the lessons that I didn’t do a great job of prioritizing them. I would leave a conference overwhelmed and unsure how to make anything actionable. As a seasoned leader, I encourage my team to focus on 2-2-1. This is 2 things I can bring home today and begin using immediately, 2 things I can implement in 4-6 weeks, and one big picture takeaway. Focusing on five things that I can learn seems much more realistic and helps prevent getting overwhelmed from the conference.

A Lagniappe

As an extra aside, I always tell my team if there’s something relevant, be sure to tell leadership about how the learnings that can be applied and thank them for the opportunity to go to the conference. As a friend said this week, we must always be learning, so it is important to for leadership to see we’re learning new things and applying those lessons to do a better job in the work we do.

Your Thoughts?

What are conference tips that help you make the most of conferences? Be sure to comment and share how you get the most out of conferences that you attend.