218: How to Conference Better

I remember going to my first South by Southwest in 2010 as an early employee of an adtech company. I was in a growth marketing / customer acquisition role and so my job was to talk up everyone, figure out those who operated media publications and get their business card (remember those!) so I could follow up afterwards to demo our product—a self-serve ad platform.

Conferences are a fascinating beast because on one hand, they need to offer compelling programming in the form of big name speakers and valuable talks, panels, and workshops. Yet on the other hand, people often go there for the connections, the opportunity to meet customers, partners, investors, and vendors.

Much of what makes a conference worthwhile is what happens outside of the the carefully planned programing.

One of my clients was going to her first industry conference as a founder (rather than as an employee or student) and wanted to make the most of the experience. After that session, I wrote up some of my key lessons on attending conferences as a founder and posted it on LinkedIn.

Conferences are a great place to meet investors, who might ask you tough follow up questions about your company, which is why I'm hosting a workshop all about that this upcoming Wednesday!

In this piece I'm expanding on what I shared plus including the additional advice that smarter and more experienced conference attendees shared in the comments.

Land a speaking position

The #1 best strategy for getting value out of a conference is to be a speaker or panelist. You get to network with other speakers, who tend to be established experts and well-networked in their fields. There's often a green room before the talk and a special speaker's dinner the night before. You also establish credibility and authority with whoever attends your session and can count on some name brand recognition with anyone you meet.

Stay focused

Conferences can be full of delightful distractions—happy hours, silly and unserious sessions, various forms of entertainment from music to comedy etc. It's ok to have some fun but remember that you are there to advance your business through relationships and new insights. Manage your energy, get enough sleep, don't eat too much of the free food if its junk, pick one or two fun things to engage in and otherwise dial in.

Chat everyone up

Your job is to build relationships with new friends and potential collaborators / customers. If you see people you know, great but don't spend all your time with them—use them to meet other folks—"Can I join your group at lunch?" can be a way to expand the circle.

Small talk matters

It's tempting to get right into business but try starting with simple questions like

• "Is this your first time at XYZ Con?"
• "What was last year / your last time like?"
• "When did you get in?"
• "Where did you come in from?"
• "What talks are you most excited for?"
• "What are you hoping to get out of this conference overall?"

And prepare a response to all those questions for yourself! This is another reason to be a speaker—people tend to ask about your talk and it's an easy pivot into what you do.

Be choosy about the programming

Pick a few of the events you really think will be worth your time and ask a public question during the Q&A. It can make an impression for the speakers and also the audience (people will remember you and maybe start up a convo with you later). Folks in the comments could attest to this strategy.

Be ready to connect

Have a QR code ready on your phone or some other goto contact info to your company / socials / mailing list. Do people still do business cards these days? It doesn't hurt if you make them super simple. LinkedIn has a QR code and scanner in the search bar. You'll completely forget to do this later and seconds matter because people get distracted / bored.

Follow up quickly

Do it within a few days of the event so you don't forget who they were, and they don't forget you. Fast follow up—email, text, or social media DM—keeps the momentum of your nascent relationship alive—a few weeks after the conference people get busy. In your message, remind them of how you met and share a memory, insight, or piece of media to cement your identity in their memory. Offer to help and make an ask if they seem friendly and willing.

All you need is a few good ones

It can feel overwhelming but if you can walk away from a conference with even just 2 strong relationships (which might happen slowly over time) for a conference to be a great investment. Pick a few folks that you really felt a connection with and ask to set up a call or meet 1:1 in person if you're in the same city.

Attend group dinners

A few bonus tips from folks in my community (who commented on my original LinkedIn post). This tip is from Monica Rysavy:

Check the conference schedule for networking mixers, especially group dinners. I've found these to be the most valuable for me to attend at conferences because they've provided opportunities for me to connect more meaningfully with people since you get more time to chat over dinner than when you meet in passing at a session or in the hallway.

Host your own 'exclusive' invite-only side dinner on an off night

An expansion of the dinner strategy from Hugh Geiger:

Run an 'exclusive' invite only side dinner on the off nights. Keep it small, pick people you want to get to know. Makes people feel special, puts you at the center of a group.

How to invite: "Hey, I'm having an invite-only dinner of [interesting people? people who should meet each other? people *I* want to know better?] on X night, I'd love to have you come"

I prefer to frame it around a common interest, but it could be anything. Keep it small and bill split. If you use Whatsapp to coordinate you get a nice private channel. Bigger side events you might luma + sponsor, but IMO they're better small.

By the way, you don't even have to wait for a conference to do this. I'm visiting the West Coast in a few weeks and organizing a special dinner for all of my exec coaching clients in the area.

Tips for hosting a booth or doing a tradeshow

These tips came from Shaun Arora:

1. Track ROI. All in costs, employee flight and lodging being one of the biggest, versus leads generated.
2. Nice carpet [at your booth] is not a luxury
3. What is the desired outcome? Use that to design your booth and content. [Swag] giveaways may attract the wrong people. Be mindful of the size and kind of item.
4. Scanning badges is awkward so don't do it unless they are out of business cards and want to share their info ...
5. Have your meetings set up in advance of the show, and meet away from your booth possibly at a hotel room, cafe, or conference room.
6. Have a runner (not you) visually scanning badges and bringing folks to your booth