
How to Attend a Conference - trevmckendrick
http://www.trevormckendrick.com/how-to-attend-a-conference/
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user24
The 'listen first' approach is a good general rule for socialising too. Most
people like talking about themselves and what they do, and they'll like you
more if you ask them about themselves, even if you're not actually that
interested.

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kaoD
But... I'm genuinely not interested!

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civilian
Good strategy.

I've also found that a lot of people fail to follow up after exchanging
business cards-- so I make sure that I do the following up. Even if I don't
have much to say, if someone gives me their business card I'll shoot them a
short email saying it was good to meet them. You never know when that contact
is going to become useful.

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trevmckendrick
It's amazing to me how few people follow up. What's the point of the
conference if you don't actually create relationships?

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alok-g
1\. The exhibitors come with the purpose of selling their stuff, not buying
yours. So it naturally works best to hear what they have to sell first, while
you genuinely try to figure how it may be useful to you. Whether or not you
know if and how you may use their offering, ask them questions based on what
you are trying to achieve, in the process making them also think about how
their offering could be suited to help you. They are still trying to win a
sale but by this time a rapport is well established and it is easy to get
purely to your own work. Even if no potential deal is sensed, I have generally
come out with some useful help or advice.

2\. You can take notes on the business card itself the moment you are out of
the conversation. It is sometimes easy to loose track by the evening even
given the number of people you may meet during the day. You should be aware of
this [1] though.

3\. It is a lot easier for people to remember your face than your name when
they first meet with you. So absolutely consider having your picture on your
business card. If they understand the core of what you are trying to do,
they'll also remember it clearly together with a memory of "some guy" who
explained it to them. So include your tagline or pitch on the business card
itself, on the rear if needed.

[1] <http://www.linguist.com/services-japanese-card.htm>

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Zigurd
If I get your business card, I usually write what we discussed on the back of
the card. Then, when I enter your contact information into my contact list, I
also enter the notes. This may seem obvious, or it may seem like a crutch, but
it makes me look like I'm naturally "good with people," which is definitely
not a a talent I was born with.

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modoc
I like Evernote Hello for this as all the info/notes is digital and synced
across my devices. No cards to lose, no ink to smudge.

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BigBalli
interesting that you mention this topic (quite surprising actually...). Not
long ago, Boris (founder of The Next Web) posted an article explaining why it
makes sense to spend so much for conferences
[http://thenextweb.com/voice/2013/03/19/want-a-free-ticket-
fo...](http://thenextweb.com/voice/2013/03/19/want-a-free-ticket-for-tnw-
conference-no-you-dont/)

I disagree and make my case <http://giacomoballi.com/the-value-of-
conferences/>

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swombat
For those interested in the topic, here's a guest post on swombat.com by Kevin
McDonagh, on the same topic:

[http://swombat.com/2011/2/25/kevin-mcdonagh-how-to-
attend-a-...](http://swombat.com/2011/2/25/kevin-mcdonagh-how-to-attend-a-
conference)

Very different approach, but Kevin does seem to be able to use it very
successfully (and despite the machine-gun-like appearance of it, he's a very
laid back, friendly, chilled out guy).

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trevmckendrick
Thanks for the link. I love your stuff at swombat.com btw. Please keep it
coming.

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larrykubin
Also, I've found that many of the best connections occur at the
events/parties/meetups surrounding the days of a conference. I live in
Portland and OSCON is pretty expensive, but you can get a free Expo pass,
wander around and get some free beer, and accomplish quite a bit without
registering. Same with SXSW interactive.

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trevmckendrick
Very true. It was hard to get plugged into these events on my first trip at
this conference. That's why I took a few people out to eat afterwords. It was
easier to organize a 1 on 1 with less notice.

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omnisci
This is a skill that should be taught to everyone. I'm in neuroscience, and
our meetings can be super awkward at times. Thank god for booze :) It's a
shame that people don't speak about this as much though. We have a huge
conference every year (~36k people) and yet many of them have no idea how to
deal with a conference. Just an FYI, flying in to give a
talk/poster/presentation and then flying out does not = a good conference.
Gotta meet people, be persistent, organize your plan of attack, and meet
people. Then meet some more people. If you have a hard time not being social
awkward, drink. Then meet people:)

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obviouslygreen
I was all ready to be snarky about this (don't make sexist jokes, etc.), until
I actually read the article; I have a lot of respect for your focus and
success. Thanks for this article!

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trevmckendrick
Thanks!

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adnam
Arrive drunk

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trevmckendrick
Yeah that's one way. :)

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joshdance
I love the idea of writing down the details you remember. Because, like you
said, you know that they are not doing the tracking, they will thank you for
it.

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refurb
I think Trevor's blog posts are some of the best I've seen. I always walk away
knowing something I didn't. Excellent signal to noise ratio.

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tocomment
Do you guys have advice for what to put on business cards?

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zeroexzeroone
Don't forget to make snide jokes about the male member in the presence of a
media hound.

