Conferences are great opportunities to learn, collaborate and network with like-minded individuals. These events can be excellent resources for understanding topics, making industry connections and bringing business to your company. Going to the conference is the first step and shows great initiative in learning, but there are some simple shifts in mindset and planning that can transform what you walk away with at your next conference.

You’re already on the right track if you understand the value of attending conferences, but if you attend them passively, taking simple notes and not engaging in discussions, you’re greatly limiting the potential learning.

Creating intention when attending these events will transform your approach to them, leading to learning and discourse that relates directly to your organisational or professional goals. The bottom line? Go in with a goal.

This doesn’t need to be anything drastic. We’ve outlined 3 quick wins below for getting more value from any conference.

Planning Ahead with These 3 Steps

Step 1: Identify 2-3 Problems You Want to Solve:

The first step in attending with intent is to think about what has brought you to the conference in the first place. This could be things your organisation needs to fix, areas you want to better understand or areas your company might grow into. This allows you to walk into the conference equipped with intention, remaining in the right mindset and having something to walk away with. This will help you to stay focused and remain on topic.

For example, if you are attending a cyber security conference, you might know that cyber security is important and want to make your organisation more secure, but by taking a few minutes to look at your own personal goals, you could understand that what you actually want from the conference is solutions for human error and cyber incident exercising.

Step 2: Match Sessions To Those Problems:

This step is crucial – ensure that you are aware of the conference agenda, who is speaking, what stands will be there, etc. This allows you to understand where you’ll find the value in the event. Some people actually prefer to do Step 2 before Step 1, as it can often be easier to tailor your goals round what the conference offers.

On the day of the event, this means you are aware of what topics are being discussed, help you know if there are multiple sessions happening at once and makes sure you can prioritise reaching your goals.

Step 3: Turn Sessions into Questions

Step 3 combines the first two steps. It is about using that intention in the sessions you attend. You’ll notice that you are much more attentive in keynotes where you are actively searching for answers. Many conferences offer Q&A sessions, and this can be one of the best ways address the goals you came in with.

If you don’t feel comfortable asking them during the Q&A sessions, speakers often hang around after their talks, so you can approach them one on one, if the conference is in person. You shouldn’t feel nervous to ask questions, conferences are supposed to be places of learning. In fact, speakers and the organisers of the events welcome questions and actively want delegates to engage with the sessions during Q&A and panel sessions.

After the Conference

The best way to retain and utilise the knowledge from conferences is to devote half an hour afterwards to process what you have learnt. If you’ve gone in with intentions, have they been answered? If so, how can that be used to create change? Whether that’s personal development, within your company or within your local area. You’re far more likely to remember the information and actually utilise it if you take time to digest it soon after the event ends.

If you attend a conference with intent, you’ll actively listen, translating everything said into your own goals. You’ll also ask better questions, network with purpose and walk away with clear objectives, informed by your learning on the day.

By approaching conferences with these 3 quick wins, you’ll notice you walk away with so much more value. Why not give it a try? Before your next conference, ask yourself:

“What are 3 challenges I’m facing right now? Which sessions are most relevant to these?” Who could I speak to about them?”

Inspired? Try it out! We offer a wide range of online conferences, from Women in Policing to the Future of the Private Rented Sector, we have an event for everyone. Find out more about the exciting conferences we’ve got lined up throughout this year.