Welcome back everybody. This is Paul O'Connell
And this video is going to be about how to get the best out of a technology conference in
2019 so let's start!
Tech conferences and tech festivals, startup festivals have evolved in the last five to six years
to be a very interactive event integrating technology and they develop a
Usually a really good
Content strategy and their speakers are engaged in the content
So I would absolutely say do your research
Before you start into a couple of days of the conference
Attending a tech conference in 2019. You have all of the tools you need to
know who's speaking.
Know who's attending and also know what the content is revolving around.
Speakers go to conferences to be seen to be heard and to be
engaged on a specific topic they're on stage so they want to be seen, so
What you do is use their social accounts
Usually they will be attached to information about specific speakers on the website for the conference
Make sure you reach out to them
Give them enough notice if they will respond. Not everybody does the higher the profile speaker the
Harder it is to get them to engage the harder it is to get them to speak I gotta say
But they do want to be seen for that topic. So if you can nuzzle out enough of a
USP to see why it's worth their time to have a small meeting with you. Maybe at lunchtime or in-between
Say after they have just done their speaking slot, all good times
They will be free they will be on a buzz from having the conversation on stage
So that's a really good time to actually jump in there and say hey you your great
and I enjoyed the content. Let's have a chat or
Let me buy your coffee, you've done your research. You know, who's going to be there, you know speaking and you know the schedule at work
make sure you have
Downloaded that the app there usually will be for any of the larger conferences. There will be a
networking app that will help you to connect to any of the content and the conference attendees and
To some speakers whoever's opted in and to investors
Conference organisers want you to connect.
This is not something that they broadcast but usually they will use the metrics from previous
Conferences for networking, for how many meetings were had how many actual connections were made the amount of time that was spent
In meetings as metrics and how to bring in new sponsors and bring in companies for exhibiting
So they want you to connect that's why that event app is there. The networking app
Usually will be released a couple weeks before the event and it will have as many of the attendees that have made a profile
up on that, so if you've made a profile you've made an effort to connect so
You do the same and then you start connecting to people, create meetings
there will be
designated meeting spots again larger conferences will have all of this prepared
Even going to those meetings spots early talking people that are there. Those are a hive of activity
I would absolutely
utilize those spots. But make sure that you have all of the equipment you need as in your phone is fully
charged. There will be charging stations peppered around the space more than likely, but there you need to be contactable
and
You also want something that's going to make you stand out so I know that a lot of those
company t-shirts and those naff
branded experiences that you see walking around
They are an eyesore :( but they stand out
They get noticed and what you want is exactly that standing in the background
Melting into the wallpaper
Is not what you want to do at a conference you want to stand out and so the best way to do that is brand
Whatever you like either
The greatest thing I've actually seen has been people walking around with sandwich boards
Advertising their companies. It's a very simple technique
It doesn't cost that much. It's actually quite effective
Because everybody goes digital.
Most tech conferences
will have
some kind of
workshops whether that be learning from investors or
Blockchain which is always a strong workshop
Learning about marketing or whatever the themes for the event are
but there will always be a great demand for workshops because
These are great spaces to do two things
Workshops are fantastic for connecting to other people on the same topic
They are also great because they you get their small usually 50 to 80 people
and
You will have like-minded individuals
peppered around the space and
It will be about an hour or so. Maybe two depends on if they paid for it
and
It's a great way to be able to recruit as well. So if it's around a
programming
language say Java or
Ruby
Language that people want to actually learn more about or get more about or talk more about so it's developer orientated
These are great ways to actually recruit
We've had many different
companies go to workshops specifically for that point. A great tip for a conference is
Check who the sponsors are. Sponsors are there to get the most out of it as well
so they actually have put in a chunk of money to
Get either more sales more than likely it's just more sales
Get the product out there, Brand disability
Whichever, But I would go to their
Stands because they probably will have a stand
and talk to them because they'd actually they want to have as many
Interactions as possible because they're their kpi's are tied to metrics as well. So
They're there to connect and to create business opportunities and you never know what happens!
it's very hard to connect to some of the larger institutions say
any of the consulting firms or
Any of the tech companies.
Unless they're actually exhibiting because then they want to talk to people as many people as possible and quality conversations as well
So getting that quantity and quality thing, somewhat of a balance.
Sometimes
Conferences are not the best place for
Networking because everyone's running around trying to absorb as much content as possible they can be if utilized right but
Nighttime is a brilliant time to connect with other attendees and speakers
if you can get to the right party, so
if you can
Make sure you know what events are going on at night-time
Because they're just as important. Get there early, the same as with the conference get there early. Have a scout around
and make sure that you're there to
Connect to people in a kind of natural way. You don't want to force it the last thing anyone wants is kind of
Heavy-handed sales techniques during the nighttime
event because
Firstly that doesn't really work what you really want to do when you're going to these events
is to create relationships
It's unlikely are going to get a whole lot of sales
but you live and create a lot of relationships and relationships are key for sales because what you need is
ambassadors for your product or
Whatever you're trying to sell to
create more
insight into the company you're selling to
They are gold dust take it from me
your ambassadors are and people who are advocating for your product or our
Worth their weight in gold.
Okay, that was as many tips as I could remember for
how to get the most out of attending a tech conference in
2019 as a business or an attendee
So it'd be fantastic if you can subscribe to this channel
and like this video (yay!)
I'll be doing a series of these. So I look forward to the next video and see you soon!
