Get More Out of Conferences and Networking Events -By Chris Brogan

April 9th, 2007

23 comments

Posted in: Blog Bash Expert Posts

Expert: Chris Brogan, Network2.tv

#9 of 30

You’ve shuffled into the convention center, and found your way over to where you pick up your badge. It’s finally here. You’re at the big conference. There’s a big fat guide of topics and speakers, and lots to do.

Looking around, there are thousands more just like you. Some are better dressed. Others look like they’re in the wrong place entirely. And which of these are people you should connect with? Who here is a client? Who’s a future partner? Where are your new friends that you’ll keep in touch with in coming years?

There’s a strategy for this, and there are tools.

Your Personal Brand

When you’re at a conference or a social gathering, you may or may not be representing a corporation or larger organization, but you’re also there as YOU. People seeing you are building an icon for their relationship with your larger organization that focuses on you at that moment. If you’re Sonya from Microsoft, they’re thinking of you as a big company in Redmond. But even if you’re Mohammad from Mohammad Rahman Consulting, you are at once a person and a brand unto yourself.

Before You Attend

• If you blog, blog about the event. Look for a link to the event in Upcoming.org, and add yourself to the attendance.
• Post a current picture of yourself on your blog, so that people can identify you at the event.
• If you find others who are attending via social media sites or by using a service like Technorati or Google Blogsearch, drop them a comment on their blog mentioning that you’re attending as well. It might make for a good early ice-breaker to know others coming to the event.

During the Event

During the conference or networking event, there are a few things to consider. If there are lots of people present, it’s important to remember that everyone has a similar mission: meet lots of new people, find friends/clients/partners, discover new information that’s important to their organization. This means you can’t monopolize people’s time.

• Introduce yourself clearly by name when meeting new people. You decide whether to add your company name to that introduction. “Hi, I’m Chris Brogan from Network2.tv” might come off as too much to swallow, or it might come off as the next conversation to happen.
• Bring business cards to foster future conversations. You don’t always have to lead with that card exchange, but try to end your brief interaction with a card exchange. It will make the whole process more memorable.
• A secret trick about business cards: it’s better to get theirs than give yours. Because then YOU control dropping them a line. It puts the power to respond back in your hands.
• If you don’t remember the person’s name by the end of the conversation, it’s okay to ask it again. And then repeat YOUR name. Leave them with that name in their heads.
• Remember that brevity rules. People love those who can speak succinctly.
• People love to talk about themselves, and the magic trick is, they somehow walk away from this experience thinking YOU are a great person.

After the Event

Once you get home, do your best to find the most pertinent business cards you collected during the experience and drop a quick, personal email. Remind them in that brief contact about something you both discussed, to connect your email address with the experience. And then, if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, try some of the following additional bits.

• If you blog, blog about the event, and drop names. Tell people about the event, but also about the people you met that you found engaging. Sorry, but it’s still true that we love to see our names in print.
• If you’re a videoblogger, or use a photo service like Flickr, edit and upload your media quickly.
• Use tags to ensure that people attending the event find your post, and tag the names of the people you mentioned in the post as well. Make it easy to be found.
• Now, go find other people’s blog posts about the event, and leave comments. If you’ve met them at this event, make sure to drop a comment on their blog and remind them of your your meeting.
• Build the most important of the business cards into whatever you use as a contact database, and if you can, in the notes/comments section, mention that you met the person at X event. That’ll help when months from now, you get an email from them, or you see an event coming up that might appeal to people you met at X event. Make sense?
• Look for these new friends on sites like LinkedIN, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, and wherever else is an appropriate social network for the group you’ve found.

Make Your Mantra For Events: “Connect with People”

There are lots of moving parts to conferences, and sometimes at networking or social events, things move quickly such that you find yourself at the end of the night without having had much opportunity to have conversations or meet the people who matter to you.

Turn conferences and networking events into your opportunity to expand your circle of friends, build your personal brand, and connect with people who might be good to know in the coming months and years. Instead of simply accepting the content, make an opportunity to build your connections to people through the experience you share. It will certainly change the way you approach conferences and social events, and it might change your lot in life going forward.

23 Responses to “ Get More Out of Conferences and Networking Events -By Chris Brogan ”

1. 
   [chrisbrogan.com] » 30 Days of Experts Post is Live Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 11:02 am

   [...] For the Chitika 30 Days of Experts series, I wrote How to Get More out of Conferences and Networking Events. In it, I talk a little bit about things I’ve learned from attending and hosting several events, especially the whirlwind of the last six months. [...]

2. 
   Jim Long Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 11:57 am

   Chris, as always, very smart ideas. VON07 was the first big event I’ve attended as the founder of Verge New Media. The conference was immensely valuable for me and I think I represented my brand well.

   It was qutie a challenge, but very rewarding, to attend the event and produce internet TV coverage of the conference as well. There was an immense body of knowledge there, but I managed to cover important themes and introduce myself to some truly wonderful, inspiring people.

   You guys put on a great event.

3. 
   Whitney Hoffman Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 1:11 pm

   One of the things Julien and I said at Podcamp NYC folks should remember is that You are NOT your business card. the Business card is simply a memory aid for later on. I think if you look at cards as a convenience tool rather than as a means to introduction, you concenrtrate more on talking to people and less on a scavanger hunt for contacts.

4. 
   Bill Cammack Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 1:25 pm

   Excellent ideas, Chris! :D

5. 
   zahini Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

   Great tips Chris! There is a lot to learn from you. Thanks for sharing.

6. 
   Kevin Kennedy-Spaien Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

   I used to be a wallflower at events, desperately clinging to any familiar face at a convention. Chris has mentored me away from that over the last year through his writings and personal interactions.

   This post crystalizes it all quite nicely. Good one!

   Everyone say Hi at PodCamp Boston2 next fall!

7. 
   Chris Hambly Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 3:24 pm

   Chris

   Great job, and thanks so much for pointing it out so clearly.

   I’ve attended many conferences before, but the recent PodcampNYC has to be up their for benefits and opportunity, just loved the way you kept driving it and the people.

8. 
   Jeff O'Hara Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 6:52 pm

   Great insights on networking at events. I find myself not talking to enough people at events. I’ll take some advice and use it at Techcocktail 4 on Thursday.

9. 
   Jason Says:
   April 9th, 2007 at 9:12 pm

   On Friday night at the networking event at Slate I met a lovely young woman named Najwa who does the styleaholics vidcast. During our conversation she said friends ask her about her show by saying “that’s great why don’t you try to get it on tv?” When I answered for her I said “because it isn’t meant for tv” and she nearly exploded with the “OMG you get it!” face.

   So we discussed for a moment how we are involved in New Media whose purpose is not to try to get on tv but to interact with our own audience in a completely new way. It is this spirit of innovation and this revolutuion in thought that will keep the old media experience on the outside wondering what the heck are those people up to in there?

   Which is fine by me! Podcampnyc was an excellent experience. I was exposed to new technologies, new people, and their ideas and all of it has benefitted me and my business.

   My two favorite tricks so far have been twitter, which helped me connect to at least one person that I would never have met otherwise, and del.ici.ous which came in quite handy to help me catalogue all those new shows and sites that people introduced me to.

   Great post!

10. 
    ddsamuels Says:
    April 9th, 2007 at 10:13 pm

    Wonderful ideas, great post
    http://www.greenzone.org

11. 
    r2d2 Says:
    April 10th, 2007 at 12:34 am

    This is really great advice for just about anyone, not just bloggers. Nicely done

12. 
    Cathleen Rittereiser Says:
    April 10th, 2007 at 4:45 am

    Chris,
    Good post. I feel like I’m living proof that you practice what you preach

    1. I met you solely because you contacted me directly on Twitter regarding the Network2.tv party.
    2. You mention that people want to find out things that can help their company and you gave me great advice about my blog. Not sure you would agree with my solution–Sporadic–but at least it helps me blog when I can.

    And it all comes back in spades. If I hadn’t met you I wouldn’t have tried to find you a place to get a top hat in NYC. You also inspired me to track down CC Chapman and email him ideas after he Twittered that he needed restaurant recommendations near the New Yorker Hotel. So thanks

13. 
    Networking Tips By Chris Brogan « Media,Technology,and Rebel Filmmaking Says:
    April 10th, 2007 at 6:42 am

    [...] April 10th, 2007 Chris wrote a great post about how to get the most out of conferences and networking events. There are a lot of tactics to maximize these events, but Chris added another angle to it - using blogs in order to continue the conversation after the event, as well as gain insights to main topics of interest of the people you meet. This is a crucial aspect in my opinion, which is often overlooked. [...]

14. 
    Kfir Pravda Says:
    April 10th, 2007 at 6:43 am

    Great post - I’ve forwarded it to some of my friends. I’ve also added couple of points in a follow-up post, in http://pravdam.wordpress.com/2007/04/10/networking-tips-by-chris-brogan/

15. 
    Alexa Smith Says:
    April 10th, 2007 at 7:56 pm

    Great post! Having both attended and worked trade shows and conferences (and love it!) the best thing I ever did was carry around a small in-the-pocket notebook so I can jot notes after I meet people. Also, putting a brief sentence on the back of people’s business cards you receive makes them more memorable after the event. It’s amazing how much you forget just one day after the show :-) Will be at Web 2.0 Expo in SF next week and then SIGGRAPH in San Diego in August if anyone else is going.

16. 
    Tiago’s Weblog » Getting the most out of Conferences Says:
    April 11th, 2007 at 2:58 pm

    [...] Go have a look here [...]

17. 
    Make Money Online: Weekly updates 28-April-2007 Says:
    April 29th, 2007 at 4:13 pm

    [...] Chris Brogan, Network2.tv - Get More Out of Conferences and Networking Events [...]

18. 
    翻译公司 Says:
    May 8th, 2007 at 10:08 am

    Do I read your comment and though .Net.

19. 
    hesrdgqlkh Says:
    June 18th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

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20. 
    google排名 Says:
    August 3rd, 2007 at 2:28 am

    Hello! Good Site!

21. 
    翻译公司 Says:
    September 4th, 2007 at 11:41 pm

    If you blog, blog about the event, and drop names. Tell people about the event, but also about the people you met that you found engaging. Sorry, but it’s still true that we love to see our names in print.

22. 
    污水处理 Says:
    April 5th, 2008 at 11:37 am

    This is a crucial aspect in my opinion, which is often overlooked. […]

23. 
    химзавод Says:
    November 8th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    =))))))

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