You ask, Evolve answers! Evolve’s Chief Solutions Strategist, Alex Ryan, and our Lead Instructional Designer, Tristia Hennessey, tackle conference survival…

This episode’s question was from a new instructional designer who’s transitioning from the education space and her company was sending her to her first conference.

Evolve attends several conferences throughout the year. We’ll be at DevLearn Conference & Expo from October 26-28, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you’ll be there, come and visit us at Booth #919 and schedule time for a free L&D consultation!

“How can you survive conference attendance?”

For those attending their first conference or anyone who could use a quick refresher on best practices:

1. Don’t go overboard on the free coffee – just because it is free and everywhere, it’s easy to have too much and it could end up having the opposite effect.
2. Stay hydrated! Water is your fuel, and you’ll need plenty to make it through the long days of walking and talking.
3. Get plenty of sleep. The excitement from the day can be hard to shake off, even into the late hours of the night when you should be resting for the next day, getting to bed earlier than normal can help with this.
4. Keep a notebook and pen with you. Other options may be a note taking app, or the conference app if available. You will meet so many new people and attend a lot of sessions so taking notes will help you remember who you talked to, who to follow-up with, sessions you attended, and key take-aways.
5. Have an elevator pitch ready. Be prepared with a 60-second summary of who you are, what you do, and what you’re interested in learning about at the conference. Conferences are one of the best opportunities to network, learn about new tools, software, and methodologies. Be prepared to learn and be prepared to listen too. Take notes! Great conversations can turn into great contacts, partners, vendors, and potential clients.

Keep these five things in mind and you’ll be able to make the most of your conference attendance.