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Professional Networking: Networking At Conferences
When your company sends you to a conference, you’re there as a representative of your company as well as a vessel for receiving new information or skills. Some amount of networking is built into the general vibe of a conference: nametags, continental stand-up breakfasts, and dedicated networking time all facilitate a certain amount of getting to know others.
Some of us have no problems making connections at conferences or trade shows, even remembering people from past conferences and striking up familiar conversations. Others dread the thought of putting ourselves out there. Even when approached by other, more outgoing attendees who do most of the heavy lifting, we struggle to ask the right questions and make the other person feel as interesting as they’re trying to make us feel.
Yet there’s no denying that knowing a wide, diverse range of people in our fields is an asset, one worth working for if we must. So even if we get permission (or if we’re in a position to give ourselves permission) to skip the evening meet-and-greet, we really should consider a few tips to help us be better—for others, for ourselves, and for the companies we’re standing for at our conferences.
The Content Marketing Institute has five encouraging, empowering reminders for those of us who lean a bit bashful but still want to take advantage of networking opportunities. Everybody’s afraid, everybody’s human, and everybody’s nice! It’s true, and we’ve all experienced it. It’s difficult to tell how afraid anyone is, because the old pros probably forget how afraid they are, but because we’re all human and all nice, even a tentative, non-committal greeting often opens doors to non-threatening conversation and maybe even friendship. Say something about the coffee or the blueberry scones. Say something about the weather. Say something about the day’s keynote speaker. Better yet, ask someone about the keynote speaker or the blueberry scones.
An article by Cox Blue offers 21 tips for good networking at a conference, some as practical as “stay at the hotel where the conference is held,” which increases your incidental contact with other attendees. We’ve stressed the value of incidental communication many times and it can be especially beneficial in a place where people are hoping to make connections. The article also presents a list of conversation starters, such as, “Where are you from?” and “How long have you been with (name of firm)?”
If these conversation starters sound like inane chit-chat, it’s because they are, but please be reminded that when someone asks them, they’re really not asking for the answer—what difference does it make to them whether you’ve been with your firm for five or seven years? No, the question is asked just to get some conversation rolling, so when you answer, do your part in keeping it going. Don’t simply say, “Five years.” Say, “Five years in communications; ten over all. What about you?”
Please remember that everyone’s there hoping to meet people like you, including you! In many cases, you just have to pull up a stool at the hotel bar and you can count on someone from the conference chatting you up. Hotel bars exist for mingling. Resist any introvert tendencies you have, smile, and be open to the possibility that a conversation struck up in a bar could be good for your career, your business, and someone else.
Reference links:
Content Marketing Institute: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/09/network-conference-tips
Cox Blue:
https://www.coxblue.com/21-networking-tips-that-will-help-you-rock-your-next-business-conference
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