Tips To Connect At Conferences For Any Energy Level

Conferences are such amazing opportunities to connect with like-minded professionals. It really is the dream of anyone who is ambitious to grow their own professional learning network. But sometimes taking the first step is difficult. So, here are a few ways to make the most of your conference experience.

(1) Say Hi

Making personal connections is the number one way to make sure your conference investment goes far. No connection will be made until a conversation starts, so just say “hi” and see where things go from there. My favorite conversation starters are “Have you been to this conference before?” or “Have you heard anything about this speaker?” It’s pretty amazing what vibrant conversations have come from a simple introduction.

(2) Talk To The Presenters

If you really like what a presenter talks about, tell them! Right after the session may not be the best time. If they are a popular speaker, they may be flooded with comments after their talk. But if you can meet with them at a quieter time, they may agree to chat with you. Remember that flattery is the way to someone’s heart, and few people will turn down a gracious offer to coffee or lunch.

(3) Keep A Twitter List

Aside from all of the people you can meet at conferences, Twitter should be your second best friend. Get the Twitter handles of the people you meet, and also of others tweeting at the conference. To make sure that you can remember how you met these people, and why you want to follow them, keep your contacts in a Twitter list.

(4) Follow and Tweet Conference Hashtags

Another reason why Twitter is a must-have for conferences is how content can be shared and followed with hashtags. If you tweet using the hashtag of the conference, people are more likely to engage with your post and respond with a comment.

If you are not able to attend a session, get the particular hashtag for the session, and use a hashtag aggregator, like Tweet Deck, to follow the Twitter conversation. This will be useful later when combing through your notes of all that you learned at the conference.