How to Make the Most of Your Next Procurement Conference
Even as an experienced pro, it can be hard to make the most of your time at a conference. Read our top tips for preparing to re-enter the real conference world!
Conferences. Whether you love them or hate them, they are an inevitable – and also extremely valuable – part of all of our professional lives. With lockdowns finally lifting around the world, many countries are starting to hold in-person conferences again. All this means is that we will shortly be presented with potentially career-changing networking and learning opportunities. But how do we make the most of them?
If you’re not a networking pro (and let’s be honest, who is, really?) conferences can feel a little intimidating. But not to worry, here are five ways to make the most of them, regardless of how confident you are around perfect strangers:
- Start with your mindset
It might seem odd that making the most out of something would start with changing something about yourself, but hear us out. Sometimes the very reason why you might dread a conference, and in particular the pressure to network with people you don’t know, is because of your mindset.
Francesca Gino, a professor at Harvard Business School, says that many people dread networking because they think it feels dirty and inauthentic. But if you change your mindset, that can all change.
Instead, says Gino, focus on networking not just because you should, but because it might either benefit your career or you may be responsible for helping someone else’s career. Approach it with the same amount of confidence and preparation you might if you were going for an interview. Still not feeling confident? Try these four ways to cultivate confidence.
- Get in first – before the crowds
One of the handy things about conferences these days is that you can often access a list of attendees and speakers before you even set foot in the room. This information is often found on an event website, or digital conference landing page. Something like Procurious’ for the Big Ideas Summit for example.
With this information to hand, it’s possible to do something to take the pressure off all that small talk – pre-introduce yourself. Get an idea of who you would like to meet and then send them an email introducing yourself. Finding people on networking sites is better than sending an email cold, and you can always ask a mutual acquaintance to introduce you.
Doing this in advance helps your initial meeting to feel less intimidating. Plus the person is more likely to put time aside to talk to you as it is a conversation that they are expecting.
- Be strategic with your time
One of the many benefits of digital conferences is that sessions are often recorded, allowing you to revisit them at your leisure after the event. However, with the return of in-person conferences, we’re all faced with the million-dollar question: Which sessions should I attend?
When trying to make these decisions, you should narrow down your options based on the these questions:
- Will the content in this session enhance my career in some way?
- Is there someone else attending this session that I’d like to hear speak/network with?
If the answer is no and no, then the session is likely not for you. You can spend your time finding people who also aren’t attending a session at that time, and networking with them.
- Network on your own terms
Sometimes the nerve-racking thing about in-person networking is that it just feels so out-of-control. You finally pluck up the courage to talk to someone you’ve been dying to hear from, and then someone else whisks them away…
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Usually conferences have at least some spare time scheduled in, and if they don’t, they are usually filled with people who have travelled to attend. This means that it’s absolutely appropriate, if you want, to organise a dinner or coffee away from the main conference hustle.
Doing so, and inviting the people whom you’d like to speak to the most, means that you’ll have a more intimate and interruption-free environment to network in.
- Manage your colleagues
At a conference, your colleagues can be your best ally, but also your biggest hindrance. We all know a certain someone in our team who follows us around like a lost puppy, intruding on important conversations and generally getting in the way.
If you are attending a conference with a colleague who either can’t or won’t find their feet, it’s important to manage them respectfully. For example, draw clear boundaries by telling them that you do need to put time aside to meet new people, but you’d be more than happy to attend a session with them tomorrow.
Conferences can be as beneficial and career-defining as you make them. If you’re interested in sharpening your new found skills in 2022, check out Procurious’ Events Calendar and get signed up!
