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October 24, 2007

Things I do BEFORE a (VON) Conference:

Since producing my first VON event back in 1997, I am well aware it is the time I invest the week before a VON event that determines how good the upcoming event will be for me. The more effort I make in my own planning of the event, the better the chance I will leave the event meeting or exceeding my own personal goals for the event.

While the suggestions below were written with our VON delegates in mind, many of these suggestions can be applied to just about any event across around the world:

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With Fall 2007 VON starting next Monday, now is a GREAT time to plan your on-site attendance.

The following is not intended to be a comprehensive list of EVERYTHING to do before an event, but these are things on my mind today as I think about attending VON.

Set your goals. This is my number one “thing to do.”

Why are you attending? Who are you looking to meet? What competitors do I want to check out? Who did I promise I would get together with? Who do I want to share a cup of coffee with? Who would I like to share a meal with? Who amongst my contacts do I want to get to know better? What technology do I want to learn more about? Am I spending enough time on the show floor to discover new companies and new products? What sessions at the conference do I want to attend? What time am I scheduled to speak? Who from the Media do I want to have a casual, ad-hoc conversation with? Who do I want to get to know better Which hotel(s) are the host hotels? (Chances are much better you will meet people in the lobby of the on-site host hotels than any of the recommended off-site venues.)

Whether I’m speaking a conference or attending as a delegate, when I’m on-site at the event, I am there for a reason. Most likely it is to meet one or more of the people speaking at the conference. A major advantage a conference delegate has at our VON and Video on the Net events is that they can get to the session room early and be in the room before their designated “target” is in the room and position themselves to be first in line at the end of the session to be part of an ad-hoc meeting. Over the years, I’ve sent myself and others to events all around the world just for the opportunity of the ad-hoc 1-3 minute meeting / business card exchange. And once you exchange cards, ask for an on-site meeting. Don’t put off getting together until after the event. Many times the follow up meetings never happen. Take advantage of the opportunity presented and seize the moment.

Not that I’m advocating any form of “stalking” here – but your ad-hoc meetings are a lot more efficient if you know what your target looks like. Visit this link to see what many of the VON speakers look like. (I just noticed my own bio needs to get updated.) Google Images is also a good way to do some quick research -- at least for people who have spoken at other events in the past.

Say HELLO - DO NOT WAIT. How often is it that you see someone at the start of an event with the intention of catching up with that person later in the day/week and that additional meeting just never happens? For me – all the time. This is why I say hi as soon as I can. My meetings are usually brief so that I can spend more time networking with a variety of people rather than let my time be dominated by just one person. This is not a suggestion to be shallow. Just an opportunity to be time efficient. The more aware you are about this, the better the chance you have to meet more people. Avoid getting yourself corned by one person who wants to dominate your time.

VON Blur Happens - There is a moment of time when I fall behind in my outbound electronic social communication and the hours and the days start to blend together. Rather than fight the blur, I just accept it. While it takes me up to a week to recover from VON Blur, knowing it is going to happen has helped me better prepare for the time I spent on-site. This time I’m going to be giving facebook a try as a means to “stay connected” with my friends while I’m on-site in Boston.

STUDY the Map of the Convention Center - You are able to spend the next 3 to 4 days at this location. Familiarize yourself with the venue and you will have an edge up on everyone else who is also attending.

Be AWARE of the Event Schedule - Write down the times for the conference breakfast, scheduled breaks and conference lunch. These are some of the best times to engage on on-site ad-hoc networking. If you also plan on visiting the show floor, best to know the exhibit hours as well. And know the times and room locations of the people who you want to hear speak and the people you want to meet.

Be in CONTROL of your Schedule. Allocate your time wisely. How often is it that you look back after an event, wishing you had more time to network, more time to walk the show floor, more time to meet with the people who you actually wanted to meet with? When you recognize that “time waits for no one”, after a while you may want to start to work on your on-site time management plan today and take responsibility for at least 12 hours a day of your time – the 7am to 7pm time grid. Don’t become a victim of poor time allocation. Take control and follow your schedule. Make everyday your own.

Don’t be SHY. If you have a hard time meeting new people, now is a chance to break out of your shell and give the rebooted version of YOU a try.

Be SEEN - It is real hard for you to enjoy ad-hoc meetings if you are spending your time in a hotel room on conference calls or all of your time at convenient off-site meetings. You have budgeted the time to be in Boston for a reason. So take advantage of it. Make an effort to be visible.

Be SOCIAL - As a conference delegate for Video on the Net and/or VON, you are invited to attend my “All Conference Party.” The party will be taking place on Tusday October 30th starting at 8pm.

Over the years we have learned what it takes to create a great social atmosphere for an evening of what we like to call “fun.” – make an effort to attend our social events and you will be with hundreds of others who are attending for the first time and people who are also there to meet and network with others from the conference as well as many of the companies from our expo floor.

BRING Business Cards - Bring cards with you and keep a stack with you all the time. Exchanging business cards is still a social experience and something you should be prepared to do just when you least expect it. It could be that you are about to run into the person you are there to meet on a cab line at the airport, while checking into the hotel, while in the elevator, while on the conference registration line or maybe sitting right next to you at a conference session.

Make sure your social media contact details are included on your cards. Make it as easy as possible for the person you are exchanging cards with to continue the conversation with you.

Understand that some meetings will not HAPPEN - Apply the 15 minute rule and move on. “Things happen” and not everyone is as efficient with their on-site schedule as you are. It helps to keep the cell phone numbers of the people you are meeting handy. (And it is ok to blow off a meeting or two in favor of something that just came up, so better to text/SMS the person and tell them you are running late and need to reschedule.)

ENJOY yourself - Give “having fun” a try. At VON, I’m the one of the people who “takes having fun…seriously.”

These are just some of the random thoughts in my mind as I think about how to advise others how to get the most out of our VON events.

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Posted by jeff on October 24, 2007 06:38 AM | Permalink

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Posted by: havlu kenarı at April 25, 2008 06:59 AM

yo jeff - this sounds almost like a pep talk for yourself too - on staying focused and moving forward and i would add take time to breathe, enjoy the moment, go for a walk outside or excercise judgement by being prepared to be un-prepared for those moments beyond the usual that you can't look for - good mistake - but most of all enjoy oneself life is shorter then ya think - geo

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Posted by: business cards at October 27, 2007 07:53 AM

Excellent summary. I also benefit at these events by deciding the 3 bottom line results I want to achieve -- meeting certain people, attending a specific session etc. Doing that in advance helps me make decisions when things change and I make last minute changes at the event.

This also helps me feel good when I get some, most or all of the really main reasons I went to the event.

Posted by: Gary Patterson at October 24, 2007 01:16 PM

Great content. I believe setting time aside for tasks other than set appointments is important. For example, including those other tasks in your calender, along with your set meetings, may be ideal. So from 1pm to 3pm on Tuesday, making it a point to check out your competition, etc. We use a detailed PowerPoint presentation internally to review what needs to get done prior to a show, and it includes a checklist.

One observation though - I rarely see much talk about the state of hiring in the industry. I know of several companies that I am meeting with, which have put aside time to discuss their hiring needs, as well as how they plan on attracting and/or interviewing candidates during the show. Let me know if you plan on highlighting the hiring trends in the industry.

Posted by: Tom DeRosa at October 24, 2007 12:27 PM

yo jeff - this sounds almost like a pep talk for yourself too - on staying focused and moving forward and i would add take time to breathe, enjoy the moment, go for a walk outside or excercise judgement by being prepared to be un-prepared for those moments beyond the usual that you can't look for - good mistake - but most of all enjoy oneself life is shorter then ya think - geo

Posted by: geo at October 24, 2007 10:35 AM

Good stuff. Thanks.

Posted by: Jack Hodgson at October 24, 2007 10:07 AM

Great advice, Jeff. I really learned a lot from you about attending conferences, because although I feel confident in how to network, I didn't really make my before-event plan up. You cautioned me about that before Spring VON in San Jose, and I listened, but didn't act. (A theme of mine). I paid the price by running out of time to get lots of things done.

So this time, for this event, I have my plans in place. I'm going to adjust and adapt part of my strategy based on some of your ideas mentioned here, most particularly the onsite meeting. I admit that I push those off all the time.

Thanks!

Posted by: Chris Brogan... at October 24, 2007 08:47 AM

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