Conference ticket? Check
Airline ticket? Check
Hotel room? Check
Fancy-dancy notebook and pen? Check
But wait……..how do you get the most out of this? How can you make this a life changing event?
Find your Conference Legs!
Like finding sea legs when spending lots of time on a boat, you need to find your Conference Legs. And yes – you can totally do this.
Here’s how –
BE A CONNECTER
This is the key. Even if this is outside your comfort zone, push yourself. The value behind taking a genuine interest in people is huge. Your goal is to find connections everywhere. In the line for the bathroom? Connect! Waiting for the elevator in the hotel? Connect! Grabbing a cup of coffee during a break? Connect!
Circulate and chat as you go, grab every opportunity to make those connections. Make them valuable by asking questions like these –
‘What kind of business do you have?’
‘What is it that you do?’
‘What has been your best take-home from today? Why?’
Connect with people you meet on Facebook, there and then. Confirm their spelling and send an instant friend request. Every moment is an opportunity to connect with people. An opportunity to find a network. An opportunity to find a network,
Opportunity is knocking – go answer the door.
BE A STAR
Day 1, opening session, you go get yourself as close to the front and sides as you can and get your game face on. Have a look at where the cameras are and be aware of them. Look excited, look interested, look like a walking advert for the speaker. Why?
You want to get in as many of the marketing videos as possible. Be seen, be noticed. Let them catch you doing things that make them look good. When they look back at their footage, who will they put into their videos? Make that person be you.
BE MEMORABLE
Not ‘dancing on the table to YMCA memorable’ (although that’s a whole other type of fun :-)), but making a difference when you meet your connections and influencers. Be the person who asks questions that are unique, well thought out and interesting. This will help you stand out from the crowd for an influencer who has a tonne of people vying for their attention.
Don’t be afraid to connect with them straight after. Send a quick Facebook message with something like ‘I sat at the round table and asked you this… I would love to connect and talk about this further.’ This will help cement yourself in their memory.
There is really no need for business cards – connecting on Facebook is enough. It’s fast and builds an instant connection. You could even tag an influencer in a photo – this would be super helpful to them as they are so busy they won’t have time to take many of their own.
Above all, be kind and polite. So you have waited online to meet your influencer for ages and it’s finally your turn. Time to whip out the list of questions you have for them? Not so much. Just say hi, let them know you admire their work but can see that they are busy, so maybe you could connect later? You might even want to offer to grab them a coffee or a bottle of water if it looks like they are snowed under. Be kind, always.
Spending your time making meaningful connections, getting into the camera line with your best ‘excited- interested’ face, sharing thoughtful and considerate moments with influencers….Phew! All this on top of the conference is a lot, but the value of these things is huge. This is one of the biggest events of the year, get everything out of it you can.
If you feel like you want to learn more about how you can use your new connections to take your business to the next level, click on the link below.
Be kind. Have grace. Rock it with style. Go find those Conference Legs!
