Have you ever wondered how to get the most out of professional conferences? As someone who recently transitioned from attendee to speaker at an AI Conference in DC, I can attest that presenting at a conference is a game-changer. In this article, I’ll explain why you should aim to speak at conferences rather than just attend them, and provide practical tips on how to make this transition.
What Happens At a Conference
If you’ve never attended a conference before, this is a good time to jump to Meetup or Eventbrite and start exploring. If you have, there’s a pretty good chance you went as an attendee. Attending a conference is a good start, and everyone says that because there is truth to it. You can make lots of connections at a conference, many that you couldn’t otherwise. You have the freedom to interact with other attendees and sometimes with speakers as well. If it’s a multi-day conference, you usually come in at the beginning of the first day, spend the day meeting people and making connections, and then probably have fun the rest of the days in the new city where you’ve never been before instead of going to the conference venue everyday.
Unofficial Meetings Before and After
But a conference does not just last the 2 days you registered for (although just making the best of these 2 days might bring a lot of opportunities). Many (relatively) small conferences usually have a speaker-only catch-up/dinner the night before and sometimes right after the conclusion, at least that was the case for me at AICC. I got to meet many awesome people a day before the conference officially begun.
At first, it felt a little scary and awkward because I was the only person there who was a fresh graduate. Seemed like I had a VIP all-access pass to every great mind speaking at this conference. Everyone else was a tech veteran with more than a decade into the industry. I could not understand anything they were talking about, so I jumped in the middle of a conversation (politely) and asked what they were talking about. That’s when I started to feel comfortable with them and I had a great time at dinner getting to know everybody.
Made Great Friends
Since I had met most of the speakers before the conference even begun, I was very comfortable seeing them at the conference. Although everyone was busy either finalizing their presentations or holding their sessions, I was “backstage” with them learning and making friends. Because there were limited number of speakers, I felt at ease meeting and talking to every speaker without feeling the energy drain out of my body (which I usually feel at conferences because of trying to make conversations with a lot of people, maybe I need to prioritize better). I even got an offer to consult for a startup just from these interactions, no interview whatsoever!
Speak Up
If you haven’t been to any conference, the best thing you can do is start attending some and get a feel of how to network at conferences. Then once you have a few of them under you belt, start finding opportunities to speak at them. Ask the speakers how they got their first opportunity, talk with the organizers and see what they say. Ultimately, it’s up to you to find a way to speak at a conference in order to make these valuable connections.
Conclusion
Now, it’s your turn. Identify a conference in your field happening in the next 6-12 months. Research their speaker submission process and start drafting a proposal today. Remember, your unique perspective is valuable – don’t hesitate to share it with the world!
In the end, everything comes to networking. This is something that took me some time to realize since I came to this country: If you want to get something, you can get it as long as you keep trying your best! Sometimes it might take a long time and sometimes it can happen very quickly, but you don’t know which one it’s going to be. So, keep putting yourself out there; I’m doing the same. Thanks a lot for reading this post, hope you got some value from it!