How to get the most out of a conference.

From someone who organises them.

I have attended some incredible learning events and conferences across my professional career. Regardless of how big or small a conference experience is, there are ways you can ensure the learning is not lost at the event and connections made to last well beyond the conference experience.

BEFORE THE EVENT

Connect with others. Often there’s a conference app or hashtag. A quick shout out over Twitter, Linkedin or your preferred social platform can be a really quick and easy way to see who else in your PLN might be attending. Reach out, connect schedules and make it clear you’re heading there and would like to share the experience!

Map out your plan. Marie Kondo of the famous KonMari method of bringing joy to your life says that most of the joy of a holiday comes in the planning… I suspect often it’s the same of conferences, yet we tend to put it off until we’re just about ready to grab our lanyard. Take some time pre-event to map out a plan so you don’t miss great sessions and speakers. Think about selecting a journey with at least one session really out of your comfort or knowledge zone, and at least one session you’re going to purely for fun and interest.

AT THE EVENT

Leave room to move. Often you can find yourself exhausted and unable to process the learning because you feel the need to pack in as many session as possible. Don’t. Leave time to digest workshops and speakers by wandering expo halls or giving yourself a session to blog and consolidate. Downtime is really important at conferences to make sure the learning sticks.

Go together. Divide and conquer! Bring colleagues, or connect with other delegates and form your own team of learning reporters. Use some of that down time to compare notes and create a ‘hit list’ of workshops to grab ideas from. You’ll treble the learning if you’re clever about your journey. An example of this is the CompliLearn team who are working alongside some amazing influential educators to have a shared experience at EduTech. They have decided to create at least six useful learning items based on the EduTech experience to share in Complilearn; bringing the conference to those who couldn’t attend.

Focus. Try to minimise external distractions such as email. Think of your conference experience as a time of big picture strategic thinking. Allow yourself the time and space to not be putting out spotfires.

POST EVENT

Dive Deeper. Look into other publications or concepts that speakers presented, read and distribute any materials you gathered and hit the books. The conference is the learning catalyst and can be a starting point for a deeper dive.

Follow up. Connect with people you hung out with and agree to catch up again, whether in person or via a twitter chat (or a million other ways!) These connections last a lifetime and are so important for our growth personally and professionally.

I love events. There is something pretty special about gathering clever people together for a shared experience. Enjoy your conference, but make sure you take control of making the experience your own!