Ideas for conference newbies

Going to a conference or public seminar for the first time can be daunting. If you're new in your industry or profession, then attending these events can be an important part of your professional development. Conferences aren't cheap and whether you are a self-funded attendee, or your employer is paying, you want to get the most out of your registration and attendance.

I recently attended a major national biennial conference in my professional field and it was my first attendance at this conference since graduating from university and gaining a full time job in the profession.

The three days was really successful for me in terms of information sharing, networking and learning. In this post, I want to cover the main 'things I did' that I think contributed to this success.

Ideally, you want to start networking with people who will be attending the conference before you go. There are a few ways to do this:

Conference website : Usually there is a conference website - are you on the list for email updates, news and information?

Conference blog : Often the conference organisers will have a separate blog. Read it. Make comments on the postings. Take note of who the other contributors are (both posts and comments).

Other social media : Lots of conferences will have a Facebook page or a twitter stream. Not on twitter? My suggestion is to get an account and start using it today. Follow the conference organisers' account and you will quickly see others commenting and interacting. Look at who else is following the conference tweets and start following them too. Twitter is a 'conversation', it works best if you contribute, make comments and be part of it rather than just watch the stream. You will get to know who else is going to the conference, and by the time you get there you will have 'real' people to seek out and make contact with.

Connect. Talk. Introduce yourself. Strike up a conversation in the queue for registration, the queue for coffee, the queue for the toilets, with the person sitting next to you in the session or at lunch, or in the lift, or waiting for a taxi at the end.

This bit is hard if you are very introverted, but it's an essential part of making your conference attendance successful.  

If you've done some homework before the conference, 'met' some other attendees online, had some interaction via email or twitter or on the conference blog then it will be easier.  I get a real buzz out of meeting IRL (in real life) fellow professionals that I have previously interacted with via twitter and blogs.

Exchange information - a professional or industry conference is the one place you can get away with talking about the things that excite you about your work.  Here, everyone is excited by those things and the flow of ideas and enthusiasm is often more valuable than the actual information being presented at the conference.

Is twitter being used at your conference? If it is, participate in the 'back channel' - the flow of ideas and information via twitter going on live during the conference.  It's no different to taking notes during a presentation - you're just sharing them live in 140 character bites with others at the conference and (usually) others not at the event but 'watching' via twitter.

Swap business cards, contact details, twitter handles, email and blog addresses with people you meet.  If drinks or dinner events are organised, go to them - often the most useful contacts and information will be made at these social events rather than during the formalities of the day.

Each time you're in doubt about whether to pluck up the courage to talk to someone new, tell yourself that they are probably also a bit nervous about networking - the worst thing they can do is walk away!  Remind yourself that you are looking to make your conference experience as successful as you possibly can.

Follow up! Write a blog post about your conference experience, put your feedback out on twitter, email the organisers to tell them what you thought.  Make contact with people you met, add them to your twitter list, track down their websites or blogs and follow them via RSS feeds or email sign up.  

Often the conference organisers will do 'wrap up' posts on their blog or website.  Read them. Make comments. Continue to interact.  If they put photos up on flickr or somewhere similar then make the time to look at them, tag yourself if you're in them (and if you're comfortable doing that), make comments on the photos, upload your own to the group if they've provided for that.

Write a conference report for your workplace, for yourself or to go with your CV or resume.  If it's work related, your employers will probably appreciate some feedback, even if you paid your own way.  Show your employer how useful and successful your conference experience was and they might pay for you to go to the next one!