18 Tips to Rock Any Conference

1. Drink in Moderation. At adult conferences drinking is as much a part of the social business as the social business. Most people start drinking by early afternoon and don’t stop until late night. If you are trying to do some business make sure to drink a lot of water between the alcohol. You are there for business and need to make sure you keep your head about you.
2. Go to Bed. There are tons of parties.  I mean tons. Everyone has them and you will be invited. But you are there to do business. Though some business will happen at the parties, most will happen during the day.  So go to the parties, socialize with everyone and then make sure to get to bed at a reasonable time. You don’t have to stay at the party all night to make your social presence known.
3. Collect Business Cards. Ask for them.  Get as many as you can. Do not try to remember who they are, and who they are with, and think that you’ll just look it up later. If someone does not offer their card, be sure to request one.  If they don’t have one, give them one of yours, or ask them to write their information on a scrap of paper or the back of another card.
4. Give your card to everyone. Give it to every person you meet. You never know who might be a great connection for you.  Bring more cards than think you will need, and hand them out like candy!
5. Call me! If someone wants you to send them information, or wishes to talk to you more in depth about something, ask them to email you later. Request that they mention what you are discussing in the subject line. It might feel awkward to do this, but they won’t mind.  Plus it gives them an easy intro to connect with you via email.
6. Take Notes. When someone gives you their card, make notes of the conversation as soon as you’ve finished it. If the conversation is generic, then make a note of what the person looks like. This will refresh your memory when you follow-up with them later.
7. Know your purpose. Are you there to meet people to help your business? Meet people who can help your career? Grow your network of connections? Get people familiar with you? Work on personal branding? Or generally be at the right place at the right time?Make sure you know why you are there, because that will affect how you meet people.  You always want to have your agenda first, otherwise you will not get the value out of the venue.
8. Work your angle. Now that you have established why you are there, make sure that you are putting your agenda first in all conversations.  If you want to grow your social networking, get people’s twitters and tweet them from your phone. If you are pushing a product, start a conversation and make a segue to talk about the product.  Make sure that despite all the glitz and glam you always have your agenda at the forefront.
9. Know your pitch. A lot of times when you are networking with people they will ask you why you are there and what you do.  Make sure you have a succinct response that answers their question and opens up the topic for conversation. End your pitch with a question that ropes them into further conversation.
10. Have a plan. Know in advance whom you want to meet (directly or the type of people), which speakers you want to hear, and what tradeshow booths you want to visit.
11. Set appointments in advance. If you know that there will be people that you would like to see, call or email a weeks in advance to schedule a time to meet up. Do not just plan to “run into them” because it might not happen. And then if it does, you might not actually be able to talk.
12. Do not focus on meeting the celebrity speakers. While meeting famous authors, speakers, and other gurus is fun, you are one of hundreds who will come up to them and shove a card in their hands. Better to meet the other people going to their talks. You can make some great connections that way.
13. Talk to the people sitting next to you. When you walk into a seminar, take the time before the presentation begins to say hello to the people seated around you. You are there to network and meet people, so just start off with a simple hello.
14. Ask questions of people you meet. Never lead with your “elevator pitch”. People are more interested in themselves than they are in you, so ask them questions to help them get to talking.
15. Put your technology away. Do not run to your phone, BlackBerry, or laptop at every break. When you are working on electronics you send the message that you are unapproachable because you are busy. Utilize the time on breaks to converse with others. If you need to get on your tech, plan some time away from everyone to do what you need to do.
16. Do not automatically send a LinkedIn or Facebook request. So often people immediately send social networking link requests to people they just met. However, different people have different policies about whom they link with. If they believe in only connecting with those whom they have established relationships, you make it awkward if you send them a link too early (which they then ignore). Instead, when you send them a follow up email, offer your LinkedIn or Facebook and give them the option to follow you. Immediately following them on Twitter is okay, as Twitter does not require a mutual connection acceptance.
17. Read their stuff. Many people are active bloggers, twitterers, authors, etc. If people are posting online, take a second to read their work, look at their tweets or check out their website. It is a great ice breaker when you send your follow up email.
18. Introduce others. When you meet great people, make sure to introduce them to other great people. Be generous with your connections. Don’t worry about what you will get out of it, because your generosity might end up in some business.