Making The Most of Cancelled Conferences

The start of 2020 has been met with much fear and panic surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus, leading to major conferences and events being cancelled around the world. 

For larger companies like Google, Facebook, and Mircosoft; pulling out of these conferences makes a lot of sense due to the risks of exposing so many employees to a relatively unknown virus. 

However, for smaller companies, the economic risks of pulling out must also be taken into account.

The lack of exposure, missing face-to-face meetings, plus non-cancelable flights and accommodation are all important factors that must be considered before abandoning major trade shows.

We at castLabs faced this dilemma after the MWC show was cancelled earlier this year. After considering the situation, it was decided for a small team to still go to Barcelona and meet with partners and clients or any other potential opportunities.

Being part of this team, I found some interesting ways to make the most of my time in Barcelona: 

1. Reach out to your contacts: a lot of other companies will be in the same boat and also will be looking to fill up their calendars. Just send out a few emails to get an idea of who else is going and you might be able to arrange a few surprise meetings.
2. Industry focused meetup groups: nearly all cities around the world will have meetup groups that are focused towards a particular industry. Check out websites like Eventbrite or Meetup and you can find events filled with like minded professionals. 
3. Explore the city: it’s not all about work. With a reduced schedule, you can use the time to explore the city you would otherwise have had no time to see due to a manic conference workload. 

I did all three of these and found that my trip to Barcelona was as productive as it was enjoyable. If you find yourself in a similar situation in the upcoming months, hopefully this article can help make your time away a little more valuable.