Are Business Conferences Valuable?

Amber Naslund recently discussed the challenges of attending and conducting conferences in her highly rated blog, Altitude Branding.

My initial reaction to her post was, “Yeah, I guess, but really, Amber?  I attend one to three conferences a year trying to improve my business acumen.  Are these reactions truly valid?”

I am currently attending an automotive digital conference in Orlando, Florida, and Amber’s perceptions definitely have some merit.  As the referees in the NFL say after reviewing a play on video from different perspectives and discussing with each other, “Upon further review, the play stands.”

I agree with Amber’s three main limitations of a conference.

1. Every business has unique situations–from people to budgets to culture–that mean that there’s no such thing as a universally applicable set of rules to follow.  Any session will be either too generalized, or specific enough to leave some people out of the discussion altogether.
2. Most conference aren’t structured to be hands-on workshops, and the revenue model and pricing tolerance of attendees doesn’t equip organizers to compensate speakers (if they do at all) at the level of consultant rather than single-session instructors.  Which doesn’t provide them with much incentive to give away best stuff, since their business is built on the back of their detailed expertise.
3. There simply isn’t enough time in typical conference session to cover any topic in depth, and attracting audiences at volume dictate that the sessions be shorter and broader.

My goals…

My goals in attending this current conference are: to improve my digital marketing knowledge, enhance my online connections, receive career advice from mentors and get away from the dealership for a few days.  The digital landscape changes so quickly (in any industry) one must commit an appropriate amount of time learning new best practices, trends and technologies.  Reading blogs daily, reviewing online videos and testing new strategies is a positive start in understanding technology.  However, this strategy is limited by you.  You can only learn so much through reading, trial and error and individual effort.  Employing the knowledge of other people exponentially increases your knowledge.  The only way to do this is to associate with people smarter than you.  And associate with them in person as much as possible.  You must remove yourself from the daily, usual, and distracting routine and blindly concentrate and focus towards learning new ideas, concepts and practices.  Not only does this build self-esteem, it builds business knowledge, sharpens critical thinking and refreshes the soul.  Many people believe that connecting online replaces the richness of offline communication.  I disagree.  My current income streams are based in the online landscape.  I daily use email, phone, Twitter and other forms of mobile communication.  However, meeting the handshake behind the avatar is where the true learning occurs.

How Do I Plan on Sharpening Myself

The real learning, meaning and impactful knowledge of this event, has definitely been rooted in private offline meetings.  I scheduled meetings with key leaders in the industry to learn their victories, failures and ongoing challenges affecting their microcosm of the digital world.  Working in the automotive digital industry, I must have a robust digital footprint, but that footprint can only be maintained minimally online.  I must communicate directly—in person—with my online contacts when the opportunity arises.  This provides a deeper level of insight and respect.  When I meet these colleagues after not seeing them for months and years it is as if, “Good to see you.  You made it through the battle and you are still standing,” despite the fact we exchange tweets, emails and phone calls regularly.  Or, the “meeting” occurs in the hotel lobby, we exchange the “Do I know you look?”, we finally click mentally saying, “Yeah, that’s you!”, and we discuss business, family and passionate life-changing ideas into the night.  (Thank you Jared Hamilton, Tim Jennings, David Metter, Steve Stauning and Sheila York)

What About You?

The second example is when and how the depth and true reason of a conference lies.  The conference provides the initial engagement.  However, it is up to the true connectors, the true business leaders, pioneers and change agents to discuss ideas, formulate opposing views and implement meaningful change in their respective industries after the conference.  I am doing this.  Will you join me in this charge?

I recommend that everyone attends a meaningful and impactful conference this year.  You will not regret it if you have the right mindset before the conference, plan properly and connect offline with your online connections.  You will be better for it.

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Tagged as: Amber, Amber Naslund, Communication, Critical thinking, Digital marketing, Mobile phone, Technology, twitter