Conferences and shows are energetic, exciting and incredibly valuable for making new connections and keeping abreast of the latest trends and developments. If you’re anything like us, you probably find yourself coming away with a bag stuffed with impressive freebies, a list of interesting new contacts and a notepad jam-packed with scribbled notes and ideas.
We already know that events are highly beneficial to our practice, but how can we really maximise what we get out of attending and start putting plans into action?
Here’s our five key takeaways to help you really make the most of all you’ve gained (not including all that excellent free stationery):
1. Get #hashtagging
Social media is a powerful tool for sharing insights, making connections and communicating, which is why every event will have its own hashtag. Quoting someone or sharing a photo from a talk or seminar? Hashtag it. Want to let someone know you think they did a really great talk? Hashtag it. Want to catch up on any insights you’ve missed? What about finding out what others thought of the event? Search the hashtag. Everybody sharing content relating to the conference will be using the same one for you to view what is essentially a live-stream of relevant content. #Sorted.
2. Build your connections
You no doubt will have had some interesting conversations with other learning professionals, whether that’s at a talk, at a stand or just during one of the many informal meet-up events that often take place around an event. While conversations are fresh in your mind, send out personalised LinkedIn requests or start following new connections on Twitter. If you had a particularly engaging chat with someone send out an email to remind them of some of the things you talked about, how much you valued the conversation and a note to say you hope they’ll stay in touch. A little personalisation goes a long way in making meaningful connections that stay relevant and could lead to valuable collaboration in future.
3. Write up your notes
Often in seminars and talks, we end up scribbling quick points shorthand or tapping a jumble of keywords into our laptops. While this isn’t a problem while the content is fresh in your mind, your points may not make much sense if you end up referring to them weeks or months down the line. As soon as you get the chance, you should type up your notes in full and expand on any points that need further detail. This is key if you want to avoid any confusion later on, especially if you will be presenting your findings to other people.
4. Share and reflect with attendees
Once you’re back in the office, it’s a good idea to reconnect with other attendees on your team and share thoughts about the experience. Did someone attend a talk you missed? Did anyone have a totally different reaction to one you both attended? How did everybody rate the overall experience? It’s a good idea to work together to pinpoint any key takeaways that you could start to implement in your current day-to-day operations in order to improve. After all, it’s no good collecting all that new information if you’re not going to take any real action.
5. Update non-attendees
Due to budget constraints and practicality, not everyone who could have benefitted from the event will have got the chance to attend. This is why it’s now up to you to pass along your newfound knowledge to the relevant people – whether that’s through a presentation, a bulletin update or just a face-to-face discussion. Ideally, you should do this only once you’ve completed Step 4 so that you get the full list of key takeaways to share with others from a range of different perspectives.
And if you’re feeling really generous, you could share your free goodies as well as your knowledge.
Once you’ve completed these steps, perhaps you’ll be eager to find your next show. Only this time, make a point to make the most of hashtags, note-taking, facilitating conversations and asking questions. Your post-event routine will be made so much more efficient in future.
See you at the next event!
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