As any of you who read my letter to Mr. Mandals know, recently I attended an out of town work conference and as luck would have it, out of town was San Diego – which I miss dearly every day since my move back to LA.
Anywho, with San Diego as my destination city coupled with the fact that this was my first out of town conference experience – it was an event to remember! There were educational sessions, dinners with friends, happy hours, mixers, a slew of inspirational speakers and more. I left San Diego feeling motivated and inspired and even picked up a few of the following conference attending tips and etiquette to pass along to my Fab&Fincly Sav readers:
1) To remove deodorant marks from your shirt, dress, etc. simply rub the fabric together and voilà – white marks be gone.
2) Always carry a Tide Pen. Especially if you’re prone to accidents and spillages like moi.
3) Bring a blazer or sweater with you to the breakout sessions. The conference rooms can get super chilly.
4) Don’t have time for a car wash? Pull into a gas station and squigie down your windows while pumping gas. Super classy – I know. But this saves you time, money and a little bit of embarrassment.
5) When you wake up with a hangover and are torn between a glass of OJ or a bloody mary to help cure your pain – go for the bloody mary. Everytime.
6) Try to get to your breakout sessions at least 5-10 minutes early to grab an aisle seat. This will save you the awkwardness of being sandwiched airplane style between two oversized men that insist on sitting arms crossed, leaving you very little moving (and breathing) space.
7) Use those note taking skills you learned in college. Or at least pretend that you are. Writing down some of the stuff you hear will benefit you when you get back to your office and actually want to apply some of the expertise you’ve picked up (or meant to pick up) while you were away.
8) If you’re not too keen on conference meals and a slew of cookies as snack items, bring a few granola bars or pieces of fruit with you to snack on throughout the day. This will keep you from feeling famished by the time you have a break and will also keep your energy levels high throughout the day.
9) So what if you’re young? So what if you’re short? You have brain power. You obviously have a career and credentials. You wouldn’t be there otherwise. Flaunt it. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the look of surprise on people’s faces when I start discussing my background.
10) Smile. Be kind to everyone. Peers, conference staff, hotel staff, etc. Not only will it make you feel good to brighten someone else’s day, but you also never know what could come back in return. After chatting up a guy at hotel check-in I was given a room on the tenth floor. A day or so in to the conference I noticed that many of my peers were exiting the elevator on the second or third floors. It may have just been a coincidence, but either way – making a connection with people is beneficial in many ways.
BONUS:
11) Read the wardrobe guidelines and follow accordingly. Please don’t be this guy.
[...] Conference Etiquette « Fabulous & Financially Savvy fabandfinanciallysav.com/2009/09/25/conference-etiquette – view page – cached As any of you who read my letter to Mr. Mandals know, recently I attended an out of town work conference and as luck would have it, out of town was San Diego – which I miss dearly every day since… (Read more)As any of you who read my letter to Mr. Mandals know, recently I attended an out of town work conference and as luck would have it, out of town was San Diego – which I miss dearly every day since my move back to LA. (Read less) — From the page [...]