Industry conferences can be extremely valuable to attend, in large part because of the networking opportunities they present. This is your chance to meet talented people from your profession, from all over the country, as well as potential partners, suppliers, or even clients.
Every new acquaintance could be a source of new revenue for your business, a potential introduction to a new job opportunity, or just an enjoyable person you can get to know.
But with so many other priorities to juggle, how can you network effectively at conferences without wasting your time?
Choose the Right Conferences
Every year, you’ll have the option to attend innumerable conferences in your industry. Obviously, some of them are going to be a better fit for your needs than others. Work proactively to sort through various industry conferences that you could attend, and prioritize the ones that seem to be most favorable.
Which conferences are most closely aligned with your business and its priorities? Which conferences have the highest potential turnout? Which conferences offer the best learning opportunities? And how much time and money will each conference cost you? By asking these questions, you should be able to figure out which conferences are worth attending for networking purposes.
Set Your Goals Ahead of Time
It’s a good idea to set your goals ahead of time. Long before you even begin making your travel plans, you should have a loose idea of what you want to accomplish by networking at industry conferences. Who are you trying to meet? How do you plan on nurturing your network? And how many people per day do you want to meet?
Ultimately, you’ll want goals that are objective, achievable, and measurable. This will help you stay motivated and give you a realistic measure of success.
Get There Early
If possible, arrive at the conference a bit early. This will give you more time to acclimate to the new location and prepare your networking strategy. It’s also a great opportunity to meet other conference attendees interested in networking, as you’ll have time to interact with each other before the conference actually begins.
Be Ready to Swap Information Quickly
When networking at a conference, you won’t always have much time for individual conversations. You might be making small talk between seminars and workshops, or you might be eager to start conversations with more people. In any case, it pays to have a method for quickly and readily swapping contact information with others. Business cards are a great standby, but you may also want to have a QR code or something similar, allowing people to get your information in a matter of seconds.
Plan a Schedule
You should always plan a schedule for your conference. There will probably be events and activities that you want to be a part of, but there will also be things that you can safely pass on. You’ll also want to build in plenty of time for focusing on networking. Mapping out a proactive schedule will help you make sure you can accomplish all of your most important objectives.
Keep Moving
In some ways, quality connections are better than quantity of connections, but on another level, networking is effectively a numbers game. As long as you’re giving people adequate time and attention, you should aim to meet as many people as possible. Keep your conversations relatively short, and keep moving if you want to make connections with more people.
Take Notes
Take some notes on the people you meet. You don’t need to write down everything you’ve learned about them, but you should at least make it a point to remember their name, where they work, and a couple of interesting things about them, such as their family situation or hobbies. This way, when you follow up with them in the future, you’ll be able to reconnect with them easily.
Attend Social Events
You’ll likely have an opportunity to attend social events outside the core conference schedule. Make it a point to attend at least a few of these, as they tend to be excellent opportunities to meet people in informal settings.
Prepare to Follow Up
Following up is an essential ingredient of successful networking. After the conference, you should have a plan for how you’re going to follow up with all the people you’ve met. Follow up at least once within a week of the conference, and then set reminders for yourself to follow up with the most important new people in your network again in the future.
With these strategies, you can use your time much more effectively in the context of conferences, and ultimately flesh out your network. Networking takes time, effort, and practice, so the more conferences you attend, the better you’re going to get.
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