A Tale of Two Conference Goers

Which attendee are you? The "sad mac" or the "connector"?

I had the pleasure of attending a great conference this week called, “Contingent Staffing” organized by WBR.

At this event, I saw many familiar faces from the Enterprise and Supply base.  Since I was just an attendee and not the organizer like I usually am (www.clubvmsa.com)... I could not help but noticed there were two very different types of people that attend a conference.

First, you have the Supplier who is disgruntled and feels like this is all just a waste of time. They spend so much money on these events with nothing to show for it.

Then, you have the Attendee who is super happy to help people make their own connections and regale on the content they mutually heard in the sessions.

This got me thinking… are you attending a conference to GET something?  Or are you attending a conference prepared to GIVE something? Two very different mindsets at play that manifest themselves quite clearly in all you meet.

I encourage you to have a post-conference strategy before you get on that plane. What is your plan for follow up? Who is accountable for the relationships? What other valuable content can you share with people to help them do their work better?

Join your Partners and Peers at a ClubVMSA event and be prepared to Give, Share, Learn and be inspired.