Top 5 Conference Survival Lessons
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to attend at least one tech conference every year since VMworld 2011 in Copenhagen…
I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to attend at least one tech conference every year since VMworld 2011 in Copenhagen. I wouldn’t call myself a veteran, but having just come home from VMware Explore Europe 2022 in Barcelona, I thought it might be useful to share my top five tips for getting the best of any tech conference.
Have a Plan
If you’re fortunate enough to get the opportunity to attend a tech conference, then I’m sure you’re already pretty excited and hoping to get the most from it. It’s worth spending a few minutes up front to write down exactly what it is you want to get from it.
Maybe you want to learn more about a specific topic? Perhaps you want to gain the experience of your peers? It might be nice to expand your professional network? Is there an opportunity to broaden your professional profile? Whatever it is — write it down, along with the ways you can achieve that goal.
In general, I’d advise everyone to do the following:
Do your homework — conferences will usually publish a content catalogue ahead of the conference. There’ll be various talks all happening at once, they have set capacity, and will get booked up quick! Review the catalog as early as possible to attend the talks given by people that inspire you. If you don’t know who that is, research your field, look up presenters on LinkedIn, etc.
Attend the keynote(s) — no matter how early in the morning they are. The keynote will generally cover the key themes, be presented by industry veterans, and likely include some interesting customer use-cases. Frankly, the knowledge and anecdotes you pick up in these sessions will keep you relevant and entertaining at most work events for the following year.
Get the lay of the land — conference venues are often huge and maze like. Aim to spend your first hour or so getting acquainted with the location, get to know where everything is and take note of places where you can replenish yourself, rest, and frankly, find the toilets that are least likely to be used!
Be Safe
Travelling can be exciting, but being in a new unfamiliar place brings its own set of challenges and risks.
Know where you’re going — before travelling anywhere, it’s strongly advisable to consult the UK Government Foreign Travel Advice. This will cover major political events, local laws, and the common issues other travellers have faced. You’ll also want to check entry requirements, medical cover, etc.
Get the inside scoop — spend some time reading “top tips for visiting <city>” and “do’s and don’ts of <city>” type websites; they’re an invaluable resource of useful hints and tips written by professional travellers and locals alike. In addition to understanding what to expect, they should cover how to get around, some basic local phrases, important cultural differences, and the best places to visit.
Conferences attract crime — it’s sad to say, but a sudden influx of affluent and often naive tech folks into any city will usually attract pickpockets, thieves and worse. Stay aware of your surroundings, travel light, keep your belongings close at all times, etc. Don’t wear your conference badge outside and if you’re out having fun after hours, use a licensed taxi service to get back to your hotel.
Be Brave
It’s been said many times — “You get out of conferences what you put into them”. Although everyone is ostensibly at a conference to attend talks and panel discussions, many also say that the true value of any conference is in its corridors — the infamous “hallway track”. Remember that most sessions will be recorded and can be viewed when you get home.
A tech conference is a unique opportunity to have face-to-face discussions with likeminded individuals from every corner of the world. Conferences have a special atmosphere where everyone is away from work, looking to be inspired, and generally feeling more open and collaborative than an average dull Tuesday. The event hallways are filled with people moving between sessions and enjoying seemingly serendipitous meetings.
But what if you’re attending a conference for the first time, or going to an event where you don’t know anyone? We all have a bad habit of “leaving luck to chance”. What can we tangibly do to increase our chances of making new friends?
Before you leave, update your social media to let the world know that you’re going to the conference, what you’re hoping to learn, and let everyone know that you’d love to meet up with new people. Most conferences will have a specific hashtag that help them promote the event, and will get your message out to a wider audience.
If there’s a specific talk you’re looking forward to, why not post to Twitter or Mastodon to tell the speaker how much you’re looking forward to it and ask if they maybe have 15 minutes to catch up during the conference? It might feel a little awkward, but this helps them broaden their audience, improves their professional profile, and ideally gives you a few minutes together to talk 1–2–1.
Whilst you’re waiting to get into a session, or whilst sat waiting for it to begin, why not introduce yourself to the person next to you? You’ve already established by being there that you have a common interest, so the small talk should be more free flowing and, at worst, you have a few minutes before you both go sit quietly.
If you enjoyed a session, the most valuable thing you can do (other than submit those feedback forms!) is to post on social media to thank the presenter. Everyone gets nervous before going on stage, and knowing that someone found your talk useful, insightful or inspirational is incredibly rewarding and makes all the preparation and nerves all feel worth while. By doing so, you boost your speakers’ profile, give your followers a curated view of the conference, and hopefully make some new friends!
Of course, the ultimate way to meet people is to present! Many think nobody will want to hear what they have to say when there’s so many other more knowledgable experts. That’s simply not true — humans are pre-wired to listen to stories they can relate to. Some of the best conference talks I’ve attended are simply someone sharing their journey of learning about a topic, along with their pitfalls and annoyances. Most people don’t need to hear how MegaCorp managed to spend millions building a super platform — they would much rather hear from someone with a job or company similar to theirs, telling them about how they got started and how they overcame their challenges.
Graze
This feels like an odd one, but conferences operate in their own strange microcosm, where there’s lots going on at once, and where everything happens on a timetable, yet time itself begins to lose some of its meaning!
You’ll quickly find that you’ve somehow skipped lunch, and your plan of returning to the hotel to fresh up is now replaced by a drinks reception somewhere else in the city. You’ll wonder why you have a pounding headache, yet can’t remember the last time you drank something that didn’t contain a mountain of caffeine or sugar.
So, my advice is simple:
Eat whenever you see food! Graze little and often throughout the day. Most conferences will have a lunch buffet, but these can be extremely busy and will sometimes be your only remaining ‘free’ time to meet with people. However, there’s usually a continuous stream of snacks supplied around the event space throughout the day.
Drink water! All the conferences I’ve attended have had tea and coffee available all day, along with fridges packed full of carbonated drinks, orange juice, etc. You’ll somehow end up drinking litres of the stuff throughout the event, so my advice is to just get into the habit of picking up a water instead. It’ll help you concentrate and keep your digestive track more healthy … you can thank me later!
Take a Timeout
Lastly, and most importantly, don’t feel like you have to do everything. As many a conference veteran will tell you, it’s a marathon, not a sprint! If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, take a break. Why not take a trip out to see some of the city, meet up with (hopefully new) friends for a proper meal, or just spend a few hours in your hotel room having nap.
For a 3–5 day conference, I’ve learned to:
Keep a supply of snacks and drinking water at the hotel room.
Take advantage of smaller reception events over big parties. These will often take place outside of the event venue, have better quality food/drink, and give better opportunities to meet people.
Don’t go wild on the first night. The atmosphere can be euphoric after the first day or two of the conference — you’re feeling good, you’re feeling inspired, and you’re ready to party! Trust me though, there’s few worse places to be hungover than a tech conference, and you’ll be annoyed at yourself for missing opportunities by not being at your best.
Have one really nice meal somewhere in the city, away from the conference centre. There’s plenty of websites that will help you find a place. Bonus points if you try the local delicacies and can say “thank you” afterwards in the local language.
In short, take whatever you need to enjoy every minute of the experience! The heart of the matter is that a tech conference is an incredible opportunity to get out of your daily routine and re-immerse yourself in the “thing” that you loved so much you turned it into a career. That time is invaluable — use it wisely, and enjoy every minute!