[VIDEO] 3 Tips to Maximize Your Conference Experience

Transcript:

Hi, I’m Dave, 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 today, because I’m attending the impact and innovation summit, a conference put on by the Philadelphia Ad club. It is so helpful to have learning conferences here locally. I’ve been a member of the Philly AD club for over 20 years and the events that they have been putting together in the past year makes this club more relevant and more useful to me as an agency owner than it has ever been in the past. Kudos to Cynthia Weiss and the leadership team for making the Philadelphia Ad club matter again.

Today’s sessions centered around AI and other technologies that will directly impact and shape 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. And Cheldin Rumer closed it out with an energetic session on branding. She was screamin!

I really enjoy and get value out of attending conferences in person. For me if I walk away with learning one new thing or one new strategy or tactic that I can implement within our agency it is a total win for me. I strongly believe that every professional should attend in-person conferences because getting out of your own work environment, being shoulder to shoulder with people that you can learn from is so important. At arc we have a continuing education program to encourage and fund our staff to travel to and participate in conferences so they can learn and think more broadly about their area of expertise. It’s absolutely an investment.

So if you’re attending conferences I’ve got 3 tips for you.

Number one – treat conferences like a Sixers game. You’d rather have courtside seats than to be in the nose bleeds. You will have a completely different and more immersive experience if you sit up front. My friend Amy Sweeney insists on the front row. And unlike a comedy club you don’t have to worry about being called on stage or made part of the show if that’s a fear of yours.

Number two – if the conference isn’t supplying the presentation decks from the presenters (add presentation graphic), approach them after their talk and politely ask for it. By having the deck you can better communicate what you learned with other folks at your company and likely will help your notes make more sense. If the presenter balks, offer to follow them, connect with them, and share their content on social media. That usually does the trick to convince them to send you their deck. (remove graphic)

Number 3 – and I can’t even believe that I have to say this one – do not skip happy hour! The networking generally offered at the end of a conference day is literally as valuable as the sessions you just sat through. This is your opportunity to speak with people likely doing the same job as you likely with the same challenges as you and you get to share your solutions and how each of you approached these hurdles. There is no substitute to talking to industry peers in an informal setting outside your own company. It’s invaluable. And if you’re in 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’s better than that for new biz?!? (remove graphic)

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 personally and professionally. Get going!