Conference Crashing Tips

I went to the Chicago New Media Summit on last Monday and Tuesday… but I didn’t do it the traditional way.  By that, I mean I didn’t pay… and I figured out how to make yourself the luckiest person at the conference. Here are a few tricks I learned that worked great:

Volunteer - Instead of paying, I volunteered.  Volunteering does a few things for you…It gives you authority. You can do what you want.  It makes you approachable. If people can’t find someone to talk to, a volunteer is someone that is non-threatening and easy to strike up a conversation with.  It gives you confidence. You know the ins and outs of the event… which makes you more confidence than if you were simply attending.

Get an easy position - Volunteer for a job that’s easy… Or one that puts you in the best position to make friends.  I got lucky and got both.  A few weeks before the event, my buddy (who has a man crush on Jason Fried) emailed the conference coordinator and asked to be his assistant.  I followed suit and I asked to be a “speaker assistant,” too.  This  worked unbelievably well because it gave me an all access badge to back stage. I had at least 30 minutes of one on one time with the speakers before they went on stage.

During my breaks, if one speaker was really good, I’d take my swipe card and head backstage after the presentation to chat with the speaker before s/he left the event.  It couldn’t have worked any better.

Crash with a buddy - Go to the conference with someone you know and like.  When you get there, split up.  Having a buddy is great because you always have someone that has your back.  They can invite you into new conversations or get you out of stale ones.  A buddy can help to easily double the people you meet.

Focus on connections, not cards - This is a fundamental mistake of people at conferences.  They focus on getting a ton of cards… but the people they meet won’t remember them the next morning.  Focus on reaching common points of interest with people so that you’ll always have something to reference in messages down the road.

Get a lunch date - If you find yourself enjoying conversation with someone, ask if they have lunch (or dinner) plans.  Generally, people won’t.  If they do, you might get lucky and get invited.  Just like David Armano did for me.  My buddy and I got to go to lunch with David and six of his friends.

Reach out beforehand - I organized a little get together on Saturday night for a handful of random friends.  If you don’t know Allie, check out her site.  She’s brilliant.  We had chatted a few times at the Brazen Careerist... but we had never met in person.  She hung out on Saturday night and on Monday, it was like having another buddy at the conference.

Add value when you meet someone - The best way to build a relationship is to give the other person something of value.  You can do that the first day you meet them by connecting them with someone they will benefit from knowing.  That can be someone in the audience or someone outside of the city.  When you connect them with someone else, they’ll remember that you were the one that introduced them.

That’s all I’ve got… But tell me:  What techniques have you found to stand out and get lucky at conferences?

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