Wow, what a conference! Search Engine Strategies is near it’s end and what better way to wrap up our series on internet marketing conference tips than with the following super-tips from super smart Michael Brito, Social Media Program Manager at Intel.
Michael worked with HP then moved on to Yahoo and is now with Intel practicing his adept social media stylings. Be sure to check out Britopian and the social media practitioner blog, Conversations Matter, for more of his insights.
Not all marketing conferences are created equal and from a content perspective, some are much better than others. Last month I attended SMX Social in Long Beach, California; and the content seemed to be more aligned with SEO than Social Media. Nonetheless, there were plenty of really good takeaways from the conference, but the true value for me was networking and meeting others who work in the same space as I do. Here are some other things to consider to prepare for conferences:
- Do your homework: Seek out the speakers/panel/participants and begin networking through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. prior to the event.
- Network as much as possible at the event; and dedicate some time to introduce yourself to others. Bring plenty of business cards.
- Bring a laptop, not only to take notes but also to Twitter any insights or revelations that may come upon you. Share everything; and don’t hold back. Who knows? You can be the first to share
- If you blog, attending conferences is a great way to brainstorm new post ideas so take good notes.
- Bring resumes; you never know, you may meet your next employer.
What’s not to like about bullet point marketing conference tips you can act on, right now? Thanks for the insights Michael.
It seems the theme we can extract from all this sage advice from our internet marketing conference tipsters is to first and foremost, plan ahead. Do a little homework before hand and have a plan for how you’ll capture, internalize and transfer the knowledge you gain. Have fun, but don’t overdo it. Realize the networking opportunities extend beyond prospects and also include competitive intelligence, marketing partners, vendors and new employees.
That’s a wrap for this series on getting the most out of internet marketing conferences. We hope you’ve enjoyed the series and would especially appreciate any additional tips our readers can provide. Many of the tips from the posts in this series came from conference organizers, programmers and speakers.
We’d like to hear more from the folks who pay the bills: attendees, sponsors and exhibitors. Please share your tips, thousands of other readers would love to see them!