[VIDEO] 3 Tips to Maximize Your Conference Experience

Transcript:

Hi, Dave here from Arc Intermedia, and welcome back to “What Am I Working On Today.” Today’s backdrop is Independence Blue Cross’s Innovation Center, located in downtown Philly.  

I’m here because I’m attending the Impact and Innovation Summit, a conference put on by the Philadelphia Ad Club. It’s so helpful to have learning conferences here locally. I’ve been a member of the Ad Club for probably more than 20 years now, and the events they’ve been putting on recently make this club more relevant and more useful to me as an agency owner than it ever has in the past. So, Kudos to Cynthia Weiss and the entire leadership team for making the Philadelphia Ad Club matter again. 

So, today’s session centered around AI and other technologies that will directly impact digital marketing in 2025. Chris Wink kicked it off with his keynote on influencers. Geoffrey Klein led a great discussion on the AI Playbook, an area that Arc has been hyper-focused on. Cheldin Rumer closed it out with an energetic session on branding. She literally was screaming.  

I really enjoy and get value from attending conferences in person. For me, if I walk away learning one new thing, one new strategy, or one new tactic that I can implement at my agency, it’s a total win for me. I strongly believe every professional should attend in-person conferences, because getting out of your own work environment and being shoulder-to-shoulder with people you can learn from is so important. 

At Arc, we have a continuing education program that encourages and funds our staff to travel and participate in conferences so they can learn and think more broadly about their area of expertise. It’s an absolute investment that is so worthwhile. 

So, if you’re attending conferences, I’ve got three tips for you. Number one, treat conferences like a Sixers game—you’d rather have courtside seats than be sitting in the nosebleeds. You’ll have a completely different and more immersive experience if you sit up front. My friend Amy Sweeney insists on sitting in the front row. And, unlike at a comedy club, you don’t have to worry about being pulled into the act or onto the stage if that’s a fear of yours. 

Number two. If the conference isn’t supplying the presentation decks from the presenters, approach them after their talk and politely ask for it. By having the deck, you can better communicate what you learned with the others folks at your company and likely it will make your notes make more sense. If the presenter balks, offer to follow them, connect with them, share their content on social. That usually will do the trick and then they will send you the deck. 

Number three, and I can’t believe I have to say this, do not skip happy hour. The networking generally offered at the end of a conference is literally as valuable as the sessions you just sat through. This is your opportunity to speak with people that are likely doing the same job as you, likely has the same challenges as you, and you get to speak with them and talk about how they solved it and how they got over the hurdle. There is no substitute for talking with industry peers in an informal setting outside of your own company. If you’re a new biz, and you skip the networking session, that’s not going to be a great conversation with your sales manager the next day. You get to talk to people face-to-face. What is better than that for a new biz? 

So, get out of your office, get out of your cube, get out of your basement and attend conferences in person. It’s a bigger experience than a webinar, and you will grow from it both personally and professionally. Let’s get going!