It is Sep?tem?ber and hard to believe that we are in the final stretch of 2012.? Dur?ing the fall, we often see plenty of trade shows, con?fer?ences and sem?i?nars to help us grow per?son?ally and pro?fes?sion?ally.? It is crit?i?cal to the growth and suc?cess of what you do to con?tinue to learn.? But how do you choose which trade show, sem?i?nars or con?fer?ences to attend?? Think through a strate?gic plan for what you want to attend and why.? If you have updated your busi?ness plan at least annu?ally, then the deci?sion on which trade shows, con?fer?ences, and sem?i?nars to go to might be clearly defined.? Your busi?ness plan may have spe?cific sem?i?nars and con?fer?ences already listed as pri?or?i?ties with a bud?get item in your pro?jected finances.? At a min?i?mum, your busi?ness plan should have sug?ges?tions for train?ing, mar?ket?ing, net?work?ing, or other events?with?the purpose.?
Whether your busi?ness plan?ning is that spe?cific or not, it is always a good idea to ver?ify that your?event plan?ning?has not changed since the last time you updated your busi?ness plan. ??What has changed?? Does your time allow for you to take mul?ti?ple days or just one?? Have you picked up a new project or started a new work task that will require your time dur?ing those con?fer?ence dates?? Or do you need to con?sider attend?ing a dif?fer?ent con?fer?ence because of new work tasks?? If you have been pro?moted, you might need new skills than those you orig?i?nally planned for, such as skills that are more tech?ni?cal or increase your man?age?ment abilities.
What are your short-term?and long-term goals?? When think?ing about how you will achieve these goals, set out a strate?gic plan of steps to help you reach those goals and pri?or?i?ties.? In some cases, you might need to learn new skills or improve on exist?ing skills.? You might want to earn a cer?ti?fi?ca?tion that pro?vides for expan?sion in your career.? If your goals include main?tain?ing a cer?ti?fi?ca?tion, you may need to take reg?u?lar con?tin?u?ing edu?ca?tion cred?its or a refresher class.? You might want to attend a more moti?va?tional event to improve your atti?tude, clear your mind, or help you bet?ter orga?nize your time.? You might want to con?cen?trate on lead?er?ship devel?op?ment.? Or maybe you have a more com?plex strat?egy where you want to com?bine tech?ni?cal train?ing with mar?ket?ing.? Some con?fer?ences offer great oppor?tu?ni?ties to remind your cus?tomers that you will be there and would like to meet up with them if they also plan to be in atten?dance.? Other con?fer?ences may have bet?ter oppor?tu?ni?ties for catch?ing up with asso?ciates or vendors.
Before you reg?is?ter for an event, think about your cur?rent bud?get sit?u?a?tion.? You may have bud?geted for train?ing, but has your actual com?pany or depart?ment rev?enue been sub?stan?tial enough for what you bud?geted?? There may be a less costly or shorter event that would pro?vide ade?quate ben?e?fits for what you need.? Con?sider your travel expenses and your time away from work.? From a mar?ket?ing strat?egy, the more advanced notice you have the bet?ter oppor?tu?ni?ties you have to obtain early reg?is?tra?tion rates, placed an ad, or signed up as an exhibitor or pre?sen?ter.? If you are an exhibitor, you need time and money to obtain pro?mo?tional prod?ucts.? Review the require?ments for ven?dor booths to deter?mine if you will need to sup?ply your own tables and if there are inter?net or elec?tri?cal con?nec?tions available.
When con?sid?er?ing which trade shows, sem?i?nars and con?fer?ences to attend, always keep in mind that you can get mul?ti?ple ben?e?fits depend?ing on how you plan.? If you are an exhibitor, you can mar?ket your prod?uct or ser?vice, but you may have lim?ited time to attend ses?sions.? In some cases, it may be more prac?ti?cal that you gain knowl?edge through ses?sions and then max?i?mize net?work?ing oppor?tu?ni?ties in between ses?sions and while pass?ing through the exhibit hall.? And not all con?fer?ences and sem?i?nars have exhibit halls while trade shows might not include the ses?sions with admis?sion.? Con?sider the added ben?e?fits of keynote speak?ers that help in improv?ing your atti?tude through motivation.
Keep in mind, that net?work?ing is dif?fer?ent at trade shows, con?fer?ences and sem?i?nars com?pared to in a net?work?ing group.? First of all, you often don?t see these peo?ple reg?u?larly or you might never have met them.? While you net?work, think about why peo?ple are com?ing to that event?? This will help you to start con?ver?sa?tions with new peo?ple you meet.? Most peo?ple at events don?t want to talk to a sales per?son unless they are in the exhibit hall.? And even then, their minds are on over?load because of all the infor?ma?tion they are exposed to.? Keep your con?ver?sa?tion sim?ple.? When you are not in the exhibit hall, keep your con?ver?sa?tion light and on sub?jects about the ses?sions, speak?ers, or industry-related top?ics that tie in to that event and give you a com?mon?al?ity.? And remem?ber, a good way to net?work at con?fer?ences is to meet and then follow-up later through a social media or phone call once you return to your reg?u?lar work environment.
Audra Gerger has worked in management positions, starting in small business and then in the corporate environment, for more than 20 years. She has been a business owner since 2004, when she founded 4QR Environmental Solutions, Inc. 4QR Business Solutions is a Division of the environmental company and was started so Ms. Gerger can share her extensive management, leadership and business entreprenuerial knowledge as a consultant. In addition to consulting, Ms. Gerger uses her technical writing and computer knowledge to assist business people with writing business plans, policies and procedures, developing various programs and creating training modules. She also provides training on business matters, including leadership and management.Source: http://www.4qrsolutions.com/blog/?p=842
oceans 11 ferris state hockey mary poppins john derbyshire kinkade thomas kinkade paintings easter bunny
No comments:
Post a Comment