Use Conference Season to Build Your Strategic Network

With Callie Hopes

L&D colleagues, it’s starting. Live conference season is here and a few thousand of us are gathering (masked up and hopefully vaccinated) in Salt Lake City for #ATD21. Whether you’re here in Utah, or heading for Vegas or Orlando … or online … this fall, you’ll soon be gathering your name tags, swag bags, ice breakers, and business cards.

We often think of conferences as opportunities to learn, see what’s new, sharpen our saw and build some skills : an opportunity to improve upon WHAT we know. Let’s also consider conferences as an opportunity to build your WHO, your strategic network that will help you advance in your career. The WHAT is still important, but as you rise in your career, the WHO help you get it done.

So who are we talking about? When you consider a conference as an opportunity to strengthen your professional network, think about this in 3 dimensions:

Your fellow conference attendees. They’re an invaluable source of living-it-every-day knowledge?insight.

The people on the program. This is an opportunity to meet the speakers and authors and panelists who share their expertise and insights.

The people in your organization who aren’t at the conference. The business champions, key leaders and operational contacts who can help you grow your career need you to attend, curate, and bring back relevant insights from this conference.

It’s not enough to attend an event for a week, feel fully refreshed & motivated, and then keep all those insights to yourself. There’s a better way.

Make a Strategic Conference Plan

The savvy conference-goer knows: to get the most out of the experience, develop a plan.

Ideally, planning begins before the conference even starts… maybe even before deciding which conference to attend! Decide in what ways you personally want to grow and how you want to expand your network and let that guide you in deciding which conference(s) to attend, and how to navigate the experience once you arrive.

Amid the ongoing pandemic, most conferences offer a combination of virtual and live sessions, synchronous and asynchronous learning; making it easier than ever to carefully plan out and attend multiple sessions. And although technology makes the “when” a little more flexible, it’s still crucial that you decide your what, how, who, and why before you even pick up your name badge.

Make a Give

Speakers aren’t the only ones who have information to share; you do too! Or, at least you could.

Sure, maybe you won’t be holding the mic, but consider other ways that you can become a valuable source of information for someone else. Make yourself an asset and offer a “give.”

Assess your current organization. Decide who you need to connect with and ask them what they would like to learn more about. When you arrive to the conference, attend sessions on their behalf, take notes and send them to your colleague.

You can leverage this same offer to individuals outside of your organization with whom you want to connect. Is there a community member, business owner, or other stakeholder you’d like to access? Reach out and offer them the same give. “Hi, I’m Demi, and I really appreciate what you’re doing in the pottery industry. Hey, I’ll be attending a conference session on Partnered Clay Construction next month; if you’re interested, I’d love to take some notes and share them with you when I get back. And, is there anything I can be on the lookout for while I’m there? ”

Be Proactive

Okay, so you’ve made your plan for who you want to connect with and scheduled all the sessions you’ll attend at the conference. That’s great prep, but keep your foot on the gas once you arrive!

Don’t just go and listen to a panel or speaker; engage. Ask questions at the Q&A, stay for the meet-and-greet after the session wraps up. Squeeze a little more time by meeting them at their booth when they aren’t presenting. ?

Be specific about why you were interested in their session. Tell them what you learned new by attending. If for some reason, you must miss a session, stop by their booth and let them know that although you weren’t able to attend the session because of conflict, you were really looking forward to hearing more on their thoughts on a specific topic of their specialty. The important part is getting that face-to-face time and having a genuine conversation.

Even if the conversation is brief, be prepared with questions or insight that goes beyond the superficial “Nice talk.”

As you do this, have a little situational awareness. Is there a line a dozen people long behind you? Is the speaker exhausted? Keep your comments brief, and make a point to follow up offline later.

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Be Intentional

Okay, by now you’re probably generating many more ideas for how you can really power up your strategic networking plan; good for you!

One question though… who’s on your list?

We know workplace and business diversity leads to greater measurable success; in operations, morale, and yes, that all important financial bottom line. Having a diverse network is one of the most important tools in your professional development tool belt.

As you build your networking plan, notice who is represented on your list. Ask yourself, “Is there diversity in gender? Ethnicity? Influence? Industry? Political affiliation? etc?”

?It’s very easy, and in fact very natural, to gravitate toward voices, opinions, and experiences that feel familiar; but challenge yourself to grow your network, not just in numbers, but also in enhanced and expanded social diversity.

Now It's Your Turn

If this is all feeling exciting, but just a bit overwhelming, no worries! Here’s a strategic networking planning worksheet you can download.?