How to crush your next conference

I have attended over 12 different conferences this spring. The past year, I have made it a clear mission to attend as many conferences as possible. Conferences ranging from sports, business, and technology. Here are some tips to take full advantage of every opportunity that conferences can offer:

Do not pay! I do not pay for conferences because there are so many opportunities to provide value in exchange for a complimentary ticket. For an example, volunteer (very helpful for students and young professionals), help promote the event within your community, offer other services in your area of expertise. You can also get your boss or company to pay for tickets and expenses. Approach your company with how this conference will be able to take the business to new heights. Although, I am a big advocate for not spending full face value of the ticket.

Go solo! It is very helpful to have business colleagues with you, especially for having reinforcement. I am a firm advocate for being versatile and not having to stick with the same group of people the entire time. Depending on if your business has a vendor stand, you may need to be with your co-workers the majority of the time. But if you are a young professional, I would recommend sitting on the edges (by the aisle) so you can quickly maneuver through the crowd. Sticking with the same similar faces will restrict you from branching out to meet new people.

Don't wait in lines! If you are trying to approach a keynote speaker after their session, do not stand in the line to wait your turn. There are a few alternatives; approach other members of the panel or the moderator, plan the keynote speakers exit route and try to cross paths on the way out. It may come across as rude (not saying you should just blatantly cut in front of people), but don't waste your time in a line that may not even get you an interaction. Use your time to make other connections. You can also sit towards the front, to be the first person in line. Just do not waste your time to awkwardly stand in a line for a weak impression.

Ask questions! Get over your fear with asking questions during the Q&A part of the panel. Asking questions to the panel is very beneficial because it gets your face, voice, and opinion to a large part of the conference. Not only is this much easier to approach the keynote speakers afterwards, many other people will try to network with you. If someone in the crowd had interest in your question, you will start to have people approach you. Asking questions will help you fine tune your public speaking skills. Also, you get to control the information being spread to the crowd, favoring concerns or interests specific to you.

Bring Business Cards! This is very simple and cheap way to get connected. There are many people that are anti business card, which is okay with me. If you collected a business card, make sure you follow up quickly after the conference. Do not lead with your business card. If you spark an interesting conversation or you sense some synergy, then ask for their card. Although it is fairly awkward if they give you a card, and you do not give one back. It comes across as ill-prepared when you do not have a business card. Business cards are your brand and little billboards.

Utilize Linkedin! Get extremely active on Linkedin pre, present, and post conference. Look up the speakers beforehand to understand their background and expertise. Then use that info to prepare for asking a question or sparking a conversation with them. Connect with all the people you spoke with, and even connect with some people you didn't speak with. There are only a certain amount of time each day, so it will be impossible to speak with every speaker, company, or attendee. So if you weren't able to find a specific person during the conference, then connect with them on Linkedin. It is extremely important to send a non-overly-salesey message. Something that will catch their attention, and drive a phone call or meeting. Linkedin will help you cover more people while using less time.

Define your objectives! Why are you even going to the conference? to get a job? to close a business deal? to have fun? When you can solidify your "why" then it will help with your elevator pitch. When someone asks you, "So what do you do?" you need to catch their attention very quickly. Depending on your objective, it should tie into your elevator pitch. A "I need a job" pitch will be much different than the "lets close a deal" pitch.

Have fun! Conferences are extremely fun to meet people from all over the world. A place to share your story and get to hear other people's amazing stories. Also, many conferences have after parties and post events that are extremely enjoyable. Many of them have an open bar and free food, which is always a plus. Throughout the conference, many people are uptight. So it is always great to let loose over drinks at a bar or party.

Follow Up! Following up will solidify all the work that you put in during the conference. If you do not follow up and start to build the relationships after the conference, then most of your work will be a waste. Sending an email is the minimum you can do, so find other ways to catch their attention. I recommend buying specific notecards to send to people. Writing a hand-written note with a small gift will go an extremely long way.

Be a connector! The best way to network is by connecting other people together. Even if you are going to a conference where you do not know anyone there. Go meet people, and even from the small amount of information you know about them. Use that to spark introductions with the other people you met. When you connect people, you are likely to get more referrals and grow stronger connections with the people you connected. Also, there are opportunities to be a part of a business deal with the two groups you paired together. It is a win-win, and it makes the conference much more interesting.

Start going! These are all tips that may be useful for your next conference. Although, they will all be useless until you start going to conferences. Start by researching conferences that you are interested in. I would recommend trying to find local conferences, although it is much more fun to travel to a different city for a conference. Once you start going, then you will feel much more comfortable in the conference environment. After attending so many conferences, I am looking into organizing or becoming a speaker at a conference. So if you are reading this, and have any tips - I would love to hear them.

Here are some of the best conferences I recently attended: (click on the images to view their websites). Please comment or message me your favorite conferences, or anything you plan to go to in the near future.