Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Alisa McCabe: Welcome to another episode of Financial sns. Today we're going to be talking about your pre and post-conference plan. There are more than 270,000 conferences and trade shows each year. Conferences are absolutely one of the most valuable. Educational tools that you can use, and if you go with the right attitude and you have a good plan for when you return, they can bring incredible value to your company. So here are some things to think about before you go. Think about why you're going. So typically there are three areas where we want to focus on. One could be marketing your services better, the other could be running your business better and utilizing
[00:01:00] best practices and technology, or you might wanna increase your education of the industry that you're in. And once you've decided on what your learning track is, then you can choose the workshops that align with your plan. And if you're going with another person, this is where you can collaborate. Maybe there are two workshops at the same time and you can't decide. See if your colleague wants to go to one, and you can go to the other.
Then exchange notes and key findings from the session. Have a plan in place for organizing the information you'll be absorbing. Because while you're there, it can be overwhelming. And then when you get home, You have to be able to look at it in an organized manner, so try creating a folder on Google Drive and upload the presentations and slides, and you can make notes there.
From there, we typically internally set up a checklist of action items that we wanna take when we return home, and
[00:02:00] you'll likely meet a lot of people. And be collecting a lot of information. Take pictures of business cards or their conference tags. This way you'll be able to upload them to the file and then set actions in place for when you're back in your office.
Now, while you're at the conference, don't forget that some of the most valuable knowledge nuggets happen in between the workshops. Be open to talking to people. Ask people to have breakfast with you. Go grab a coffee. Also go to the after events. They're usually sponsored by the vendors, and I do have to say, don't forget to talk to the vendors.
There has been so many incidences after conferences where I have been able to reach out to a vendor to help us with a solution on their product, and it was because we had that relationship at the conference that I was able to reach out directly to them and get my issues solved quickly. So going to these events also helps you to learn
[00:03:00] more about those who share your affinity with your field of work. There's nothing. Like being able to kind of let your guard down and be more of who you are and just have a casual conversation with people and find out more about them. Also, drink plenty of water while you're there and try to get some sleep. Early morning meetings and late nights can dull your brain.
If you can, I highly suggest taking an extra day. Use the time to get with your colleagues and share notes. I have made this our practice of every conference we go to that I take one day after the conference and spend time, and I ask colleagues to stay with me, and we get together and we brainstorm about what we loved about the conference, what we didn't like, what we're gonna do.
And then you can decide on what action you can, a clear plan of action, of what you're going to do when you get back to work. So it's very
[00:04:00] important to only pick three action items. If you choose too many, you get overwhelmed and nothing gets done. So you get back to the office. So you're probably exhausted, especially if you did it right. So try to follow these tips to unwind. Take your organized files and create a presentation for your team about what you learned. Most importantly, try to share with your team what your aha moments are. This presentation doesn't have to be long, but it should showcase all the action items that you are going to take care of when you return.
So then take these action items, the things you wanna learn more about, new processes to implement marketing strategies, and see also on your team who wants to learn more. This can be your accountability partner. Follow up with the people you met at the conference. They can become your people. For me, these people have
[00:05:00] become the greatest support group. I reach out to them often when I have questions or if I'm frustrated. They are. My team of mentors, they are my peer group and I've learned an incredible amount of information from them about how they run their practices and how they handle issues that happen to them. I know it can seem a lot of work to go to a conference.
You have to be away from your work and the work can pile up, but the time spent is well worth it. You will be pushing. Against new ideas and learning the newest technology and the best practices, and meeting other people who have a growth mindset because people who go to conferences are out there really pushing the envelope of the newest and best ways to do things.
So if you go into some conferences or you've been to any, or if you have any tips about going to conferences, Head over to my website
[00:06:00] or send me an email at Elisa first steps financial.com. I would love to hear about your experiences.
