What do I take with me? How will I remember what speakers say? What do I say?
Attending a conference or exhibition as a delegate is a great opportunity to learn, network, meet new people and start nurturing business relationships with existing contacts. It can also be quite daunting, especially if it’s your first conference within your industry or company. I certainly felt like that when I attended my first national BNI conference many years ago and have since then attended at least one a year including internationally to San Diego for Social Media Marketing World (#SMMW18).
Over the years I have learnt an incredible amount on how to maximize the opportunities you are faced with at such events. Many through observation as well as speaking and asking colleagues that are fantastic at getting results. They come back buzzing and proud of the amount of people they themselves have actually helped, as well as being delighted with the amount of business opportunities they potentially initiated for their company. Too many people to mention individually, but let’s just say BNI (Business Networking International) members and the organisation’s team have helped significantly! Thank you to all.
So here are my Top 10 Tips to consider when planning to attend a conference. In this case a few specific tips for those attending the BNI UK & Ireland Conference in Dublin in June 2018.
- Have a list of your SPECIFIC Top 10 ideal clients you would love an introduction to. You simply do not know who you will meet that may know them or may be able to introduce you to someone that does.
- Ask fellow members in your chapter or Director Consultants (DCs) in your team, who they would love an introduction to. Again you may be able to find them that introduction through conversations you will have with other DCs, Area Directors (ADs) and Executive Directors (EDs). It's all about helping others and Givers Gain.
- You will be using your smartphones and iPads / tablets continuously and your battery will drain very quickly! Bring your mobile devices chargers and consider bringing extra power pack . Maybe also a small extension lead to be able to charge more than one device, remember sockets may be limited.
- Delete some photos and videos from your phone to create more memory space to enable you to take photos of slides or record videos.
- Consider bringing an iPad/tablet or laptop to make the scrupulous amounts of notes on straight away, rather than writing them on notepads and then having to try and read your rushed hand writing to type them out when you get back to the office.
- Plan at least a morning out of your diary, post conference to be able to follow up on meetings and learning from conference and put an Action Plan together. You will definitely not be action EVERYTHING YOU WILL LEARN immediately. You will need to prioritise. I definitely found this useful after my second conference.
- You will probably collect lots of business cards. Maybe consider downloading an App to scan and input them when you get back to your hotel room. I use Camcard which I find very useful and user-friendly Bring plenty of business cards with you!
- Look thorough the attendees list in advance and pick out those who would be good to talk to. Look them up on social media LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram! Then start engaging with them through the relevant channel. Start building a relationship and then try to arrange a 121 meeting in advance.
When you're at conference embrace social media activities by tweeting posting and videoing. Remember the "Hashtag" is #BNIDC18 or #BNIMD18 (Members day) and have some fun by posting photos of the sessions and the speakers and of course a few selfies!- Oh and DON’T FORGET YOUR LAPEL PIN!
Do you have any routines or advice that you would add to this list that have worked for you in the past? Please feel free to add them as a comment below.
Just in case you are reading this and wondering what BNI is all about, please do get in touch. I can share with you how the organization has, over the last 14 years, contributed up to 81% of my business at mc square marketing. It has helped me get from the one man consultant to now leading an amazing team, who I call my Social Media Geniuses. Get in touch to find out how it works and can help your business too.
Want more TIPS?
If you're attending the conference in Dublin, come and see me on the BNI SUDO stand and ask any questions re social media for both BNI and your business.
If you want to read more tips and advice on networking, social media and marketing these people would be worth following on Twitter:
BNI UK & Ireland - @BNI_National and Facebook - @bniukandireland
Ivan Misner - @IvanMisner Charlie Lawson - @CH_Lawson
Phil Berg - @PhilBerg88 Michael Cuschieri - @mcsquareltd
