How to Have a Successful Conference Experience

Guest Blogger – Dan Wrona, RISE Partnerships


Many of you just returned from a regional conference, and you may be debating whether to attend another one this summer. These events are naturally a valuable experience, but there is a difference between those who show up and those who step up. Here are three steps you can take toward a more meaningful conference.

If you are returning from a winter conference, it’s not too late. Review all the materials you brought home and complete these exercises in retrospect.

Focus
Why are you attending the conference? The typical response is:

• They required someone from my chapter to show up.
• As the advisor, it is important to the organization that I attend.
• I like seeing friends from other areas and other chapters.

I appreciate each one of these reasons, but they are also very passive. Since you are investing so much time, energy and money into the event, you may want to have a more intentional objective. Take a moment to reflect on what would make your time worthwhile, set a goal and be specific. You should end up with something like this:

• Learn everything I can to solve our chapter’s problem with [sisterhood, academics, finances, involvement, etc.].
• Get involved in crafting the organization’s new [anti-discrimination policy, chapter operations protocol, philanthropic project, etc.].
• Get information, support and involvement for a new initiative within the organization.
• Learn about new developments and job opportunities from people in my field.

After the conference, review your materials for opportunities to translate your takeaways into action.

Connect
If this is one of your first times at a conference, it is tempting to act like a clinger. Clingers find a new conference friend and stick with them during every program, meal and activity. They feel more comfortable seeing the same people repeatedly than meeting new friends.

Don’t be a clinger. Work hard to reach out, put yourself in different spaces and connect with new people. Attend sessions on a variety of topics. Sit in a new area of the room during every program. Find people from regions or chapters that are different from yours. If you’re an undergraduate, sit with the alumnae and vice versa. Arrive early and be prepared to meet the people near you. Keep a list of everyone you met and send them an email following the conference.

Learn
Attend every session and go to every activity possible. The historic tour may not be interesting, but the people taking it might be! Even if you have attended all the sessions before, you do not know everything. When you burn out on talking about the Sorority, pick a personal development session and show up with your major, career, volunteer or personal life in mind.

Revisit your goals for attending the conference and, if possible, select all the sessions you want to attend in advance. Keep a notepad with you at all times and record three lists: people you met, information you need to use later and anything you need to do after the conference. When you return, contact the facilitators of any sessions you wanted to attend and ask for resources.

Use these three steps to make this conference meaningful. Will this be the time your chapter overcame a major challenge? Will it be the time when you found an internship that changed your life? Will it be the time you met Michelle Albrecht Smith or Norma Minch Andrisek. If you’re only attending because you have to or because it’s fun, these opportunities are left to chance.