What To Do After A Conference (Complete Guide For 2022)
The experience of attending an industry conference can be both invigorating and overwhelming. It can be exhausting to travel, attend sessions, meet scores of new people, and absorb so much information. The work that accumulated while they were out often caused conference attendees to immediately jump back into their everyday routine when they got back to the office.
However, if you don’t strike while the iron is hot, you could miss out on forging valuable connections, and everything that you learned during your stay could be soon forgotten as work gets in the way. In this article, you will learn exactly what to do after a conference in 2022.
Conference Basics
The purpose of a conference is to facilitate discussion about a specific topic. Multiple experts with deep knowledge of the chosen topics usually deliver speeches presenting their ideas and conclusions on new or existing data. Different locations may host multiple speeches simultaneously, depending on the conference’s size.
Conferences typically take the following forms:
Business: A business conference usually consists of people from the same industry or organization discussing new ideas and exploring business opportunities.
Academic: In academic conferences, professors and scientists gather to present new research findings in a particular field.
Trade: The purpose of trade conferences is to facilitate connections between sellers and potential buyers.
No matter what type of conference you attend, there are some basic rules and tips that you should follow to make the most of your experience after you’ve returned home to the office.
Essential Things You Must Do After Attending A Conference
Establish Connections
There’s no need to check out of your hotel and go home at the end of the conference. Use social media to continue the conversation. In most conferences, attendees are encouraged to tweet or share insights and learnings using a specific hashtag. However, these conversations often continue after the conference. It is still worth searching for professionals who will provide quality content after the conference, even if you didn’t use any social channels or hashtags during the conference. For continued learning and finding future conference opportunities, follow those who interest you.
Organize Your Notes
When conference notes are scribbled down and not organized, they can become almost unintelligible after a bit of time. Take an hour after the conference to unload all your thoughts onto paper while things are still fresh. You should also flesh out any notes you did take so they are clear to you. If you don’t write down anything or if you write it in haste, you will have it for reference in the future. Consider the conference learnings after reviewing your notes. Would you like to know more about any new trends or developments in your field? Does your company or professional face any challenges or solutions that others do? Looking into new technologies is something you’d like to do? Taking this step can help you remember key information months into the future.
Update Your Linkedin Profile
Follow up with all the business cards you collected during the conference within a few days after the event. A great place to connect after a conference is LinkedIn, where most professionals expect connection requests. Make sure you write a personalized salutation so they can understand how you met. If you regularly use your network, you might be surprised at how often these contacts come in handy. Send them a text message or give them a call directly if you really connected with them.
Gather Presentation Materials
There are many conferences that offer the presentation material for download during or after the conference. Check that you have all the material you found useful and if you don’t have any, find them. The materials are often posted on the conference website or SlideShare. Contact the event coordinator and ask them to email you the presentation, or you can reach out directly to the speaker via LinkedIn.
Put Your New Knowledge Into Action
The purpose of attending an industry conference isn’t just to collect business cards and to expand your professional network; it’s also to develop your skills. Think about the most helpful or enlightening things you learned. In your opinion, what resonated most with you? Is there any way you can make your job easier or faster by using that information? Were you able to identify a skills gap or create a more detailed career development plan as a result of the conference? Do you have any concrete steps you can take today to increase your productivity or get up to speed?
Share your newfound knowledge with others.
Share key learnings with others on your team who weren’t able to attend the industry conference. Organize an informal lunch, a brief report, or a PowerPoint presentation. Include relevant handouts and links in an email, as well as a bulleted list of useful takeaways. On the conference website – or on the blogs and websites of those who presented at the event – you can often find valuable information after the event.
Provide Feedback
Fill out the post-conference survey if you receive one. Alternatively, send a note to the conference organizers to express your gratitude or to suggest improvements. Also, if you were inspired or impressed by a conference speaker, be bold and contact him or her. Additionally, this type of gesture can lead to valuable connections in addition to simply being nice.
